


Just Hit Reset

by turquoiseorange



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Kissing (duh), M/M, Spoliers, Violence, basically talk about all routes here, plenty of puns, puns, the reader is not Frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-05-20 09:12:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 30,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6000307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turquoiseorange/pseuds/turquoiseorange
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You wanted to consider your life normal, but it wasn't. Trouble always seemed to find you. Whether it was losing your keys, struggling with college courses, or the latest- being tossed between timelines against your will.<br/>Before you knew it, Undertale changed from being just a game to a way of life. You went from living alone in a spacious appartment to sharing your daily life with two skeleton brothers.<br/>Despite how nice things seem, a part of you still longs to return to your original timeline. With the help of Sans and your other friends, you work together to find a way to send you back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! This is my first time writing an undertale fic, hope you like it. I tried to keep the character gender neutral, however as a heads up I am writing this as if I were the one experiencing these events (fun times). Otherwise.. Here ya go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, timelines are jumping out of control. You know, the usual.

It began as a normal school day. You had finally finished your classes, and decided to relax in the library before school officially ended an hour later. You laid out to relax on the couch in the back and peered around, trying to find your friends. No one familiar was in sight. You sighed and grabbed your bag. Might as well walk around the campus to see if you could find anyone. You were about to reach the book detectors near the exit when you saw him standing there. For some reason, your initial reaction was to take a step back.

"Sans?" You asked, your voice quieter than you expected. The small skeleton simply stood there, staring deep into your eyes. He blinked slowly, his eye sockets only opening halfway. His smile grew wider for a second as he smirked at you.

"hey, kiddo." His voice was deep and even. The familiarity of it made your mind race. Last time you checked, he was just a video game character. You scanned the room to see if anyone else had noticed the abnormality of the situation. There were a few students typing away at the computers beside you, but no one looked up to comment on the skeleton standing in the doorway.

Just then, something hit you. Why, of all days, did it have to be when I was wearing this? You thought to yourself. You snuck a glance at your hoodie, only to confirm your fear. You were wearing the black hoodie with a giant picture of Sans plastered on the front that your friend had gotten you for Christmas. Sans seemed to notice what you were looking at and raised an eyebrow (eyebone?). You laughed nervously.

"Hah... Just ignore this." You told him, pointing at the design on your hoodie. When he sighed, his eyes narrowed even further. The orbs of light that rested in his sockets became pinpricks.

"you know you're sick, right?" His voice was steady. Normally you would have loved to listen to his deep tones, but the way he spoke to you sent chills down your spine. He nodded in your direction. You immediately assumed he was referring to your jacket, and felt your cheeks grow hot.

"W-what, this?" I-I well... It was a gift-" You stuttered as you tried to explain it to him. He raised a hand from his jacket pocket to stop you.

"you know what I mean." Your heart dropped as your mind went back to your latest game of Undertale. You had initiated the Genocide run. It was fitting how Sans was the last boss you had to beat. You hadn't considered the fact that your choices would dictate your interactions in the real world. A blue light flared in his eye, reflecting his impatience with the conversation.

"I-I'm sorry." Your voice wavered as you tried to apologize. You began to feel nervous. He couldn't hurt you, right?

He took a step forward and snapped you out of your train of thought. You moved back into the main part of the room, making sure to keep eye contact. Suddenly, you bumped into something. By the feeling of the sharp edge, you assumed it was a table. You closed your eyes for a moment and let out the breath you didn't realize you were holding in. When you opened them, Sans was gone. You turned around and gasped, your heart racing. He had teleported right behind you.

"you'd think a ruthless killer like you would have more guts to stand their ground." He chuckled at his own joke. A second later his smile dropped. You tried to explain yourself.

"But I'm not-" He cut you off by raising his hand again. Just then, your chest tightened. You clutched at it, suddenly out of breath. There was a tugging sensation, then you noticed your body emit a red glow. Oh no. You tried to keep your hands over that area, but regardless of your attempts, it broke free. The colors around you faded into dull shades, all except for the glowing red heart in front of you. It was bright, about the size of your hand. As you studied it, you noticed you felt... empty. It was almost as if you had a hole in your chest.

You tried to get it back in your hands, which was difficult because of its smooth texture. Out of curiosity, you shoved it against your chest, trying to force it back in. It felt hard against your body, refusing to go back where it belonged. You took a deep breath and glanced up at Sans. He raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"you should've known that wouldn't work." His voice was deeper than it had been a moment ago. You swallowed hard.

Suddenly the room went dark around you. You blinked your eyes to adjust to the change in scenery. Your soul drifted forward, taking position between you and Sans. There were buttons laid out on the ground in front of you- Fight, Act, Item, and Spare. You knew this place all too well. Your eyes shifted back and forth, looking for a way out. Nothing. You finally settled on Sans. His eyes were closed, a smile still plastered across his face.

"it's a beautiful day outside..." He began the same spiel you had heard so many times before. You sank to your knees.

"Sans...no." You said, barely able to hear your voice. He continued.

"birds are singing-"

"Sans please"

"flowers are blooming-"

"nonoplease Sans don't do this I'm sorry"

"on days like these, kids like you-"

"don't-" Even though the little white orbs of light had disappeared from his eye sockets, you could tell he was staring straight at you.

"-should be burning in hell."

Bones erupted from the floor so quickly, you didn't have time to react. Searing pain shot through you in all directions. You screamed. The last thing you saw was your soul shatter to pieces before the whole world faded to white.

─────────────────────────────────────

You found yourself about to leave the library when you saw Sans standing in the doorway. For some reason, your initial reaction was to take a step back.

"Sans?" You heard yourself say, almost as if it was scripted. The small skeleton stood there, studying you. He closed his eye sockets and smirked.

"Hey, kiddo." he said simply. The familiarity of the situation began to sink in. You were dizzy for a moment, receiving the full brunt of the deja vu. You blinked slowly and glanced around the room to see if anything had changed. It was just you. Sans had just killed you and no one seemed to notice. But there was an even better question- how were you still alive?

You looked back to Sans, trying to read from his body language whether or not he had this feeling too. He looked almost exactly the same as he did last time. That is- except for the growing look of confusion on his face. He cocked his head to the side.

"something up, bud?" You opened your mouth to reply, then closed it again. You knew he had experience with timelines, but how would he react if you mentioned what had happened? In the end, curiosity got the better of you. You wanted to know what was going on. You had to tell him.

"Yeah, actually. We've... we've done this before." His brow furrowed, the smile that once stretched across his face now barely revealed his teeth.

"what are you-"

"You said it yourself." You laughed, still a little nervous. "There's an anomaly causing the change in this timeline." You paused so he could digest that down. The outline of his eye lights became ringed in blue for a second when he realized what you were talking about. A range of emotions flashed across his face until it finally settled between wariness and hatred. You cleared your throat and continued.

"Something's not right. Someone is resetting the timeline at random and we need to figure out how to stop them." His eye lights suddenly extinguished, which startled you and caused you to take a step back. "Sans... What's going on here?" You asked timidly.

"kid, how do you know about that? i never-" You cut him off again.

"You don't remember that?" You guessed not everything transferred over. "You told me about it so many times... It's not something I would forget easily." You closed your eyes and ran your fingers through your hair. "Please. Can we just try to figure out why the timeline is repeating itself?" He closed his eye sockets slowly. When they opened again, the pinpricks of light had returned.

"sorry, but I don't think that's an option. you look pretty suspicious, coming in here, talking about the semantics of timelines and whatnot. and if you're causing the anomalies, well, there's only one thing to do." The lights in the room blacked out and your eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. Sans appeared in front of you.

"Sans, please, just listen to me. We don't need to fight." You took half a step toward him, but his eye flashed blue again, even brighter than before. He laughed under his breath.

"you're one to talk." His voice was harsh, almost like a growl. Light blue flames danced around his eye socket. A dull hum filled the air as he prepared to launch his first attack. You rolled to the side just as a barrage of bones burst through the floor.

"Papyrus! Alphys, Undyne, Asgore! Toriel help!" You called out the names into the darkness. Sans seemed to slow down for a moment, the names of his friends hitting a soft spot. However, the thought of them seemed to lead him to keep going. He began to shake slightly.

Giant canine-like skulls appeared at your sides, steadily bobbing about a foot above the ground. Each one easily matched your height, their teeth at least the length of your forearm. Crap. Gaster Blasters. You yelped and jumped onto the head of the one closest to you.

You grabbed onto what looked like the horns of the skull and held on for dear life. The Gaster Blasters shuddered as demonic screams filled the air. You felt a wave of power surge through the air as they fired their lasers. They disappeared with a flash, dropping you harshly to the floor. Once again, you were alone with Sans. You coughed, trying to regain your breath.

"Please... Someone help." But nobody came.

You braced yourself on the ground with your arms and tried to calm down. If Sans planned to kill you again, you might as well accept it. You closed your eyes for a moment, awaiting the final attack. A moment passed, but the room remained silent. Just then, a shiver ran down your spine. You gasped and turned around to find Sans there a few feet behind you.

"you don't seem like the thing that was hell-bent on killing me last time." Your chest tightened for a second. You took a deep breath and tried to speak.

"Maybe it was Chara." Your voice was a little shaky at first, but you cleared your throat and kept going. "Maybe they're the one that kill-" You stopped short because Sans glared at you. For a second it looked as if he would attack you again. Instead, his eye lights moved about as he studied you. You sighed and pulled your legs into your chest, head resting on your knees. The silence reclaimed the room once again.

Suddenly you heard the shift of clothing and looked up in time to see Sans putting his hands behind his back. He coughed and looked nervously off to the side. You looked down at your lap.

He doesn't look like he wants to kill me anymore, you thought. Actually, he looks... You glanced up again to check on him. His eyebrows were turned up in a look of concern as he looked at you, then back at the floor. He almost looked like he feels sorry for me.

You pushed yourself off the ground so you were standing in front of him and slowly outstretched your arms. Out of instinct you closed your eyes, waiting for Sans to react. About a minute later you could feel his bony hands on your back, enveloping you in a hug. You gasped, a little surprised at he actually retaliated. He quickly let go and looked up at you with concern.

"shoot. sorry kid I didn't mean to upset-" You cut him off by hugging him back. You buried your face in the fur of his jacket. An involuntary shudder passed through you, the nervousness of the battle still lingering. He held you firmly, an act of reassurance. You stayed like that until you finally let go and backed away. You rubbed your cheeks to regain a normal feeling in your face. You laughed nervously.

"Thanks for not killing me... heh.." Your eyes fell to the floor as you rubbed your forearms. A pause. "Mind if we talk about what's going on, now?" Another pause.

"guess it's worth a shot. sorry for jumping on your bones like that." You laughed weakly. Sans put a tentative hand on your shoulder. "c'mon, let's get started." His eyes crinkled when he smiled. Amazing how quickly his demeanor had changed. You nodded and he snapped his fingers, the world once again faded to white.

─────────────────────────────────────

You found yourself once again walking toward the entrance of the library. When the small skeleton appeared in the doorway you stopped short. He glanced in your direction and smiled, as usual. Your voice caught in your throat. Your words stuttered as you tried to clear it.

"H-hey Sans... Long t-time no see." The smile you put on wavered as thoughts swarmed your head. What if you were back to square one and Sans wanted to kill you again? It didn't look like he retained the memories like you did, but you weren't sure. You snapped back to reality when you noticed movement. Sans took a step toward you, an arm outstretched. You immediately took a step back.

"hey kid, are you okay? you look a little spooked." He raised an eyebrow as he spoke. You swallowed hard.

"Which one are you?" You asked tentatively, watching for his reaction. He appeared to be confused for a moment, but tried to play it off by smirking.

"i'm not exactly sure what you're-"

"Which Sans are you? Which timeline are you from?" He cocked his head to the side, visibly becoming uncomfortable.

"how do you-"

"-know about the timelines?" You laughed a little. "Funny story." He took a step back. "This is the third time today I've relived this encounter. I don't know exactly why, but you wanted to kill me." The room grew awkwardly silent. Sans rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"gee kiddo, it sounds like you've been having a bad time." You flinched.

"A-are you going to kill me too?" Your voice was quiet. You rubbed your arms out of habit. He looked like he was going to say something, but didn't. His eyes expressed sympathy.

"why would I-" A familiar voice from outside cut his comment short.

"SANS COME LOOK. THERE ARE SO MANY HUMANS HERE. GOOD THING WE BROUGHT AN EXTRA HELPING OF SPAGHETTI IN THE CAR." As he entered the library, his voice echoed against the walls. Your jaw dropped in shock, but you quickly coughed to regain composure. The two skeleton brothers stood staring at you, as if waiting for something.

"Papyrus..." Heat built up behind your eyes. You laughed and blinked them. Something ran down your cheek. Papyrus gasped at your reaction and ran to wrap you in a hug. You struggled to breathe as he squeezed you, suddenly unsure about the situation you were in. It was a little uncomfortable. He pulled away soon enough, but kept his gloved hands on your shoulders for support.

"HUMAN! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" It sounded like he screamed in your ear because of how close he was. It didn't help you had sensitive ears. After the ringing cleared you stuttered out a reply.

"I-I'm okay Papyrus. J-just a little surprised is all." Sans appeared from behind Papyrus' shoulder. It looked like he wanted to make sure you were okay. You couldn't meet his eyes. "Guess I won't be bonely any more though, now that you guys are here." Sans snickered and you smiled, feeling a little guilty for making a pun in front of Papyrus. Of course, Sans jumped on the opportunity and continued the puns.

"Heh... We were thinking about you a skele-ton too." Papyrus lost it.

"YOU TWO ARE BEING RIDICULOUS." He yelled and ran back outside, leaving you and Sans behind in a fit of laughter. His dramatic exit didn't help the situation. After a while you couldn't breathe and almost lost your balance. As you straightened yourself up your arm briefly brushed against Sans's. You quickly jumped back and apologized. He waved it away. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, his eye lights glowing softly. You ran a hand through your hair and glanced off to the side.

"Well I guess this means we'll have to finish our conversation later, hm?" Your eyes traveled outside to where Papyrus had left, then back to Sans.

"yeah. i don't think it's a good idea to discuss.. this.." He gestured with his hands. "around him."

"I figured you would say that." He was staring at you again. Your eyes shifted to the wall. An awkward silence followed.

"hey." He nudged you with his elbow. You looked back over. "don't worry about it, okay? we'll figure out what's going on." Sans held his hand out, expecting you to take it. You hesitated at first, but then thought, Maybe this time will be better after all?

"Alright." You placed your hand on top of his. He intertwined his fingers with yours and squeezed your hand reassuringly.

"then we're off." He led you toward the exit and for once, the world stayed as it was. 


	2. Jump Scare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn't a dream, Sans really did try to kick your ass. Or at least, he did in the other timeline. Maybe this time around things will calm down?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I was really excited about starting the story and sped through chapter one and most of chapter two (stayed up until 3 am because of it ahaha…). Anyway, enjoy!

Everything around you became pitch black. The only distinguishable detail was the sound of wind rushing in the distance. It was quiet- too quiet.

Suddenly a tugging sensation pulled at your chest, much harder than before. You didn't have any time to think before your soul was ripped from your body and sent into the abyss. You dropped to the ground and gasped for air. Your head was spinning. Don't tell me.

A light clicked on and illuminated Sans who stood about fifty feet in front of you. You kept him in sight from the corner of your eye so you could adjust to the light. You blinked steadily and looked at Sans.

This time was different. You stared into his eye sockets and swallowed hard. The lights vanished, leaving behind a black void that seemed to consume you whole. You couldn't move. He raised his left hand as his eye flickered to life, blue flames engulfed his frame. A pair of Gaster Blasters appeared at his sides, followed by an arrangement of glowing bones. You could tell you were going to have a bad time.

"S-Sans?" You finally stammered. Nothing about his posture let on he heard what you had said. Instead he asked one simple question:

"are you ready?"

Your heart pounded with adrenaline and allowed me to move again. You stood up, and for a split second you thought you had a chance of surviving. Needless to say, that feeling didn't last long. Your breathing sped up, but your mind was calm enough to come up with a plan. Dodge. It had worked last time, maybe it would work again.

The familiar hum filled the air as Sans prepared his attack. You crouched and tried to gauge when he would strike. His arm shot forward, you jumped to the right. Not quick enough.

The bones knocked into your ankles, causing you to trip and skid on your elbows. Your eyes flew open; it took a moment to register what just happened. Soon after, the Gaster Blasters fell into their positions.

You stood up quickly. Blood rushed to your head and caused the world to spin. No time to think. Once again you jumped onto the head of the Gaster Blaster closest to you. Your sprained ankle crumpled under your weight as you grasped the skull by the horns. You groaned in pain, forgetting for a second how tightly you needed to hold on. As the Blasters fired their lasers, the power of the attack made you lose your grip. You panicked and scrambled to find another hold on the top of the skull. Sweat beaded on your hands and made it difficult to grab on. Luckily your traction slowed you down, enough to last until the attack had finished. The Gaster Blasters vanished in a flash of light.

You were thrown to the ground, struggling to breath. The pain growing in your ankle became more apparent and you noticed your arm was bleeding as well. At least you made it this far.

"Sans, please I thought we were friends." You pleaded, hoping he would change his mind.

"if we were really friends you wouldn't be here, now would you?" He asked, his voice deep and menacing. You could feel tears well up in the corners of your eyes. Not again..

You tried to think of something other than the humming. Anything but the humming. The sooner this was over with, the better. Then something unexpected happened.

A shiver ran down your spine and you looked up to find Sans standing directly in front of you, bone in hand. It was encased in the same blue flames as his eye, which colored your skin in a flickering light. Sans quickly flipped the bone between his fingers and jabbed it straight through your chest where your soul would otherwise be. You tried to scream, but the pain was excruciating to the point where you couldn't breathe. No sound came out of your mouth. All you could do was watch as your body crumpled to the floor. Tears finally spilled onto your face and Sans was absorbed by the darkness of the room.

____________________________

Next thing you knew, you sat up in bed, screaming bloody murder. It took you a second to realize you weren't actually in danger-the whole thing was just a dream. Or at least you thought that until a pair of footsteps thundered through the hallway towards your room. The door burst open to reveal two familiar skeletons.

Sans wore a simple night shirt and sweatpants, both illuminated by the faint glow in his single blue eye. Somehow sweat beaded on his forehead. Papyrus stood behind him, wearing orange pajamas and a night cap. He wore a look of concern, but not nearly as serious as Sans'.

"what happened, are you okay?" The words flew out of his mouth so quickly it took a second for them to register.

"WE COULD HEAR YOU SCREAMING ALL THE WAY FROM THE LIVING ROOM." Oh man.

"Ah, shoot." You felt guilty for worrying them. "I'm sorry guys. Just had a bad dream is all." You propped yourself up on the bed with your arms behind your back. Your heart still raced from the sudden jolt. Guess you wouldn't be sleeping for a while.

Papyrus visibly relaxed when he learned you were okay, but Sans stood there, still skeptical. The ring of blue faded, his eye lights danced about as they studied you for a better answer. You rubbed your eyes and yawned.

"What time is it anyway? And how did I end up in my bed?" You checked the nightstand by your bed and found the digital alarm clock. It clicked over to 1:00 am. Papyrus and Sans exchanged nervous glances.

"Well for starters, you... there was an incident when we first found you." Papyrus switched to his inside voice.

"i don't know how it happened kiddo, but as soon as we got outside you just dropped to the floor. passed out cold." Sans looked at you and a shiver of dread ran down your back. You had been out for ten hours. Maybe that's why I can't remember anything after the library. "we didn't know what else to do so we took you home. thought that maybe all you needed was a good rest." You sighed.

"Man that's weird." You focused on the two of them, lingering in the doorway. You guessed suddenly screaming after passing out earlier didn't convince them you were okay.

"Really, though. I'm alright guys. Thank you." You gave them a meaningful smile and they slowly smiled back. Sans looked back at Papyrus and patted his shoulder.

"pap you go on back to the couch, i'm going to stay with the human for a bit." Papyrus nodded and turned to you.

"I'm glad you are feeling better. Good night then!" And off he went into the other room. As soon as he had left, Sans walked toward you. The blue in his eye flickered, not quite noticeable if you didn't look for it. Your heart jumped a little and you tried to calm it by laying back down. He decided to take a seat at the foot of the bed, a few inches away from your feet. A pair of quick beats sounded within your chest. Then another.

"alright. what happened?" He asked. His tone was serious, but light with concern. You sat up to face him, resting on your side with one elbow.

"What do you mean?"

"the dream. obviously someone who screams like that didn't have a pleasant experience." He looked off to the wall when he finished talking, deep in thought. He knows this all too well, doesn't he? You hesitated.

"I-it's not important."

"really." He looked back at you. "please, i want to help." You bit your lip.

"It was you. It was just like the first time I saw you, when you killed me without hesitation..." You trailed off. Sans gazed at you intently, as if he wanted you to keep going. "But this time it was different. After I survived a few attacks, you came up me and stabbed me in the chest." Your hand rose to where it had happened as you explained. It closed into a fist and dropped back onto the covers. Sans grimaced.

"god, that's what happened? no wonder you've been so jumpy today." He looked at the lumps where your legs lay, almost longingly. His arm moved to touch you but he changed his mind halfway. Curiosity gnawed at the back of your mind. What was up with him?

"i don't blame you, honestly. i'm sorry you have to go through this. it's not too pretty." He scratched the back of his head.

"Do you get them too?" You asked.

"what?"

"Nightmares. Bad ones." He glanced at the ceiling and thought for a moment.

"i used to. but ever since..." He trailed off and looked back at you. Into your eyes. Then he cleared his throat and fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "well it's been a while. ever since we got out of the underground, life's been alright."

You nodded. There were so many questions you wanted to ask him, but it looked like he was getting tired. You sat up and slid your legs out from under the covers. Your back cracked as you stood up and stretched.

"Well after something like that I don't think I'll be able to sleep for a little while."

"anything you wanna do?" You stopped for a moment.

"I think I need some fresh air." Sans nodded.

"mind if i join?" You walked over to the closet and grabbed a pair of slippers to cover your feet.

"If you're not too bone tired yet." He cracked a smile.

"nah, i think i can hand-le it." You both started laughing. God you loved puns.

"Alright then, I guess we're off." You walked down the hallway which led to the front door. You had to be quiet as you moved through the living room, since Papyrus had fallen asleep on the couch. You smiled to yourself as you heard him snoring lightly. You slowly opened the front door, and like that, you and Sans slipped out into the brisk night air.


	3. Cold Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take a break to look at the stars (but man is it cold). Sans takes you to the perfect stargazing spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, two chapters in one day *laughs nervously*. Debating on whether to make this a regular thing, or just something I do when I need to vent. Still up in the air, but I’m having fun nonetheless.

"Shit it's cold out here." You muttered under your breath as it formed a cloud in front of you. The temperature wasn't quite low enough for snow to form, but man did it sting. You shivered uncontrollably. Sans stopped you by holding up a bony finger.

"One second." He disappeared into thin air with a small popping sound. Right, he can teleport. About a second later he returned with his usual blue hoodie on and a large blanket wrapped in his arms. He offered the blanket to you. You thanked him and tried to grab for it, but Sans took the opportunity to wrap it around you himself. When he finished and you were thoroughly bundled up, you snickered.

"You're acting weird." You commented.

"... weird how?" He raised an eyebrow like he didn't know what you were talking about.

"With all this..." You remarked. You made a gesture to the space between you as best as you could muster being wrapped in the blanket. His smile fell a little as his gaze shifted from you, then the blanket, then back to you. He settled on your eyes.

"it's up to you-'ve gotta see this." His eye lights traveled from staring at you to the space just behind you. What just happened? Sans could tell you were confused by the sudden change in conversation and turned you around by your shoulders. He pointed up to the sky. Oh boy.

Since you lived in the city, a lot of the light interfered with how you viewed the night sky. Nonetheless, what you did see was pretty amazing. You took a couple steps forward, almost as if you were in a trance from the view. You could hear Sans laugh under his breath.

"I'm glad we came outside. This is beautiful." You looked back and him and smiled. A genuine smile. He couldn't help but smile back.

"c'mere." He grabbed the hand of yours that wasn't clutching the blanket. "i know the perfect place we could go." He stood directly in front of you, your faces inches apart. Your eyes met his. "you ready?"

"Ready for wh-" Your words were cut off as the world flew by in a whirl of color. One second you were standing in front of your apartment building, the next you were in what appeared to be a hillside forest. You tried to examine your surroundings but your vision swam. You stumbled and tried to regain your balance. Sans caught you before you fell over.

"woah, woah. hey there, you okay?"

"Just... Very dizzy." The world kept spinning. A green and black blur followed you everywhere. "very. very. dizzy." You closed your eyes and took a deep breath.

"it's just teleportation. this didn't bother you before." He said this nonchalantly, but took a breath.

"Before? I've never teleported between places. And as exhilarating as that was, I think I need a little cool down." You opened your eyes, the world slowly came to a standstill. The trees finally looked like trees again.

"you mean you don't rem-" He stopped himself and inspected you. "come on, you have to remember this..." He took your hand again, with a firm grasp, and led you through the trees. Before long you had reached a clearing that overlooked what seemed to be the rest of the forest. You couldn't make out many details because of how dark it was, but it seemed like you were on the crest of a hill.

Sans let go of your hand and flopped down on the ground. He pulled his knees in to sit cross-legged, and patted the ground next to him for you to sit as well. You took a seat and laid lack with your eyes closed. All of a sudden you felt extremely tired.

"isn't this pretty cool?" He asked, sounding awestruck. You opened your eyes and gasped.

There were so many stars.

You had a hard time breathing, let alone thinking of things to say. The sheer multitude of small lights hanging above you seemed almost too much to comprehend. It was as if the sky was no longer something attainable, just a dark canvas that could swallow you up at any moment. The sheer vastness of the universe never ceased to amaze you. You had almost forgotten you weren't alone until Sans sighed and laid down as well.

"I don't even know where to start. I have to say, I'm speechless." You laughed and turned over to read how Sans felt. His chest rose and fell slowly, hands placed behind his head as the stars consumed him too.

"How did you find this place? It's the perfect spot for watching the stars." He shrugged.

"it's pretty close to where we came out of the underground. convenient, huh?" You nodded. He continued.

"i took you here the first night we got out." You stopped gazing at the stars and turned back to him.

"What?" What is he talking about? He propped himself up on an elbow so he could face you.

"you used to tell me stories about the stars- the real ones- and how much you loved them. so when i found out this was a good place to view them, i took you here." But... I don't remember any of this? "we had a pretty good time, or at least i'd like to think so." He paused to look off to the side. "you're such an amazing person, and that's why i-" He stopped again.

"Why you what?" You persisted, hoping he would answer you.

"nothing." He laid back down, his shoulder brushing against the top of your head. You took a breath and moved so there was some space between you.

A part of you wanted to acknowledge what was going on, that this was a different timeline than the others. This Sans didn't want to kill you. But still another part lingered, laden with skepticism, and kept you on guard in case you were sent back in time to a more dangerous session.

"you really don't remember... do you." He asked seriously, his voice lowering an octave. He sounded a little disappointed.

"No, I'm sorry. I told you what happened back in the library." You sighed. Were my experiences that different? "Maybe I'm from a different timeline. Not the same _____ you know."

The stars seemed to get closer.

"well that's a thought..." Another pause. "but even if that were the case, you'd still have similar personalities and experiences, right?" You shrugged.

"I guess so. I'm not entirely sure how timelines work. Never really had to worry about them from where I came from. To be honest-" You stopped and thought back to the game. Did I really want to tell him?

You needed to.

"You didn't exist in my timeline. Or at least, not physically." He sat up again, but you turned your head to study the moon. A quarter of it appeared from behind the tops of the trees.

"you're joking."

"I wish I was."

The stars threatened to swallow you whole, surrounding you on all sides. You had to remind yourself to breathe.

"Funny how much I wanted to see you then, but now when you're here all I can see are those flashbacks from earlier. I know I shouldn't be scared but..." You trailed off. You figured Sans got the picture.

"i see."

There was no escaping the stars now.

You blinked a few times, the drowsiness finally caught up with you. You tried to break the tension.

"Man, I'm tired. I feel like I could fall asleep here; it's so peaceful." Sans laughed.

"yeah." He sat up. "wait are you falling as-" You didn't hear the rest of what he said because you succumbed to the will of the sky, and allowed yourself to drown in it.

____________________________________________________

Your nose felt frozen. Still half asleep, you shifted to lay on your side. Your face met a patch of fur and a warm body. You nuzzled in, drowsy and comfortable with your position. An arm shifted and rested across your back beneath the blanket. Suddenly, you were wide awake. Shit shit shit shit.

You were still outside, the cold barely penetrated your bundle of warmth. Sans wrapped his arm around your chest as your face found its way into his jacket hood. The blanket you were using earlier now enveloped both of your bodies. One of your arms wound around him as well. The other rested next to his other hand. You could hear a soft hum in the air. Your breath caught in your throat.

It was the exact same hum you heard when Sans prepared his attack. Except this time, it was quieter, more soothing. You tried to figure out where it came from, and moved your head slightly as to not disturb Sans. It came from his chest. You placed your ear up against it tentatively, hoping he wouldn't notice.

Your thoughts conflicted at first, racing back to the battle with Sans, and the air of certain death. But this time was different. He was in a deep sleep, his chest rose and fell slowly, steadily. The noise from it was quiet at first, but as you focused it became more noticeable. It was hard to describe; the best you could think of was a low buzzing sound coupled with the rush of the ocean.

You felt calmer the longer you listened to it. For the first time that day you felt comfortable. 

Despite being a skeleton, his body was surprisingly warm. He stirred in his sleep, an arm pulling you closer to him as he burrowed his face in your hair. You thought back to earlier.

The way he acted seemed as if the you in this timeline was... more than friends with him. Heat rushed to your face. You had always wondered what it would be like if you met Sans in real life, hoping to have the opportunity, but this? The sudden bout of attention caught you off guard. You felt bad, seeing as Sans cared so much for you, but it would take time before you could feel anything in return.

You moved your fingers absent-mindedly, and brushed against his hand. It felt a little strange, yet also comforting. You guessed you needed the human- er skeleton? - contact after how much stress you experienced. You sighed and closed your eyes.

Well, you decided, if this was how things would go, I might as well make the most of it. The talk about timelines could wait. The warmth melted your senses, slowing everything down, and soon enough the darkness had claimed you once again.


	4. Slow Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it just you, or is it really hard to get up in the mornings?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at like 2 am haha. Originally planned this part to be shorter but oh well. Filler chapter.

You slowly came to your senses as the alarm clock suddenly blared to life. A few seconds passed before you found the will to roll over and slap the snooze button. You groaned and rolled back over. What day was it?

Still half asleep you wrapped your arms around the figure on the other side of your bed. Wait a minute.

Your eyes flew open. Sans laid fast asleep, his arms rested next to him on the pillows. As you tried to retrieve your arm from around his side, he shifted and put his around you. Where his lips would normally be brushed against your forehead. A chill ran through your body. Apparently that was enough to wake Sans, since he took a deep breath and relaxed his body. You could feel his smile grow wider.

"mornin' sleepyhead." His voice sounded groggy with sleep, but he managed to add a laugh at the end. His bone rubbed against your face, smooth and cool.

"M-morning." You stuttered, feeling more embarrassed than anything. The hand he placed around you began to work its way through your hair. Man did it feel good. You sank into the bed even further and closed your eyes halfway. Maybe a little more sleep wouldn't hurt? Another shiver ran down your spine.

Nope. No time for this, whatever this was. You still hadn't decided.

"Sans I think we need to get up" You put your hands on his chest as you said this. He picked at the strands of your hair, clearly enjoying himself.

"five more minutes?" He asked, still giving in to the temptation of sleep. You sighed softly.

"But I have to get to school today." You were pretty sure it was another school day, otherwise your alarm wouldn't have gone off. "I can't be late, I have Calculus first." He stopped playing with your hair and let his hand rest on the back of your head.

"alright if you insist." He took hold of the covers and pulled them off as he jumped out of bed. The difference in temperatures shocked you to the point where you were shivering again. You yelled out in protest as he smirked. You rolled off of the bed and stretched as you stood up.

"You're such a dork." You said, rubbing your arms to warm them and smiling. It was then another thought hit you. You were in your room. You stopped abruptly and turned to Sans. "Wait. How did we get here?"

"what do you mean?"

"Last I checked we were outside." He shrugged.

"yeah you were dead asleep so when the sun started to rise I teleported us back here. Figured you'd want to wake up in your bed rather than on the ground." He had a point, the ground had been a little uncomfortable. But man was it worth it. You smiled to yourself.

"Thanks for coming out with me, by the way."

"no problem."

A moment of silence passed as you continued to stretch out. Couple of pops here and there and you were done.

"Do you mind stepping out so I could change?" You asked, glancing over at the pile of clothes on the floor.

"ah, right. sure." He walked over and stopped at the door. "i'll go check on Pap. anything you want to eat?" You were a little surprised having someone offer you food for a change. At least, other than your best friend. You shrugged. 

"I'll figure something out when I get there. Now shoo." You laughed and made a scooting motion with your hands. He rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him.

You let out a deep breath and ran your hands over your face. This definitely would take some getting used to. For now at least you figured you could stop worrying about him trying to kill you. You spun around and decided to push the thought away. More important things needed to be done.

You stepped toward your closet, leaning on the door frame for support. After making it through your selection twice, you finally chose something to wear.

You pulled the clothes from yesterday up and over your head and tossed them lazily off to the side. You'd deal with them later. First to come was a black tank top and a pair dark grey jeans. As soon as you put those on, the flannel hanging over your desk chair seemed fitting to complete the outfit. You slipped it on and paused to admire yourself in the mirror. Not too bad. On the way out of your room you grabbed a pair of white socks and red converse to put on in the living room.

Down the hallway you could already hear Papyrus and Sans having a conversation. And then it hit you. A waft of pancakes flew through the air and enveloped your senses, almost to the point where you could taste it. You had to stop yourself from drooling.

In the main area of your apartment, you spied Sans and Papyrus in the kitchen, still discussing something. Papyrus made himself comfortable at the bar while Sans stationed himself at the stove. He was the one making the pancakes. Huh. You strode over to the counter and leaned on it. Papyrus greeted you.

"GOOD MORNING HUMAN. IT SEEMS AS IF YOU HAD A GOOD NIGHTS REST, YES?" He eagerly awaited your response. You nodded.

"Yeah, I was pretty tired so it wasn't too hard to fall asleep." Papyrus smiled and quickly returned his focus to Sans. You craned your neck a little to see over Sans' shoulder and confirm what he was making. No use. You turned your attention to putting on the socks and shoes instead. By the time you were finished, Sans turned around with the reveal.

He held two plates, one in each hand. The one he set in front of Papyrus looked like a replica of a skeleton head, shadowed details and all. In front of you, he placed a one shaped like a pixelated heart. It reminded you of the way your soul looked in the game. Seemed so long ago that was just a simple game. Now you lived smack in the middle of it. For better or for worse you didn't know, but if you made it this far, it wouldn't hurt to see how it turned out.

You grabbed the whipped cream and created a mountain of it on top of the pancake. A growl came from your stomach, reminding you how long it had been since you ate a decent meal. The first bite was like heaven. It melted in your mouth, the perfect consistency. You turned to Sans.

"Where the heck did you learn to cook like this?" You asked, immensely curious how a trait like this didn't appear on his wiki page. He shrugged and dumped the dishes in the sink. You heard a pop as he disappeared momentarily, then a puff of air from the couch as Sans flopped down on it. Guess he was still pretty tired. Papyrus rolled his eyes and decided that was his chance to chime in.

"WELL IF YOU MUST KNOW, IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY." He stuck his chin up in the air with a confident grin on his face and a fork still in his hand. You covered your mouth with a hand to keep from smiling too much. "I AM THE MASTER CHEF OF SPAGHETTI AND MY BROTHER, WELL, HE DOESN'T REALLY COOK MUCH." You laughed, imagining Sans shrugging to his comment. Apparently there was more for you to learn about the small skeleton. 

A nagging feeling ate at the back of your mind- what was your relationship with him in this timeline? And if you found out, would you want to pick up where the other you left off? Now might not be the time to get started on that. You shook your head to clear it and checked your watch. 8:00 a.m. Class started in half an hour. You hurriedly finished off the meal, still trying to savor the mix of flavors from each bite. After dumping your plate off in the sink, you headed over to the front door. 

"Welp I guess I'll be heading out." You grabbed your keys from the hook by the door. "See you guys later?" Sans raised an arm and waved weakly as a response. Papyrus nodded while he finished the rest of his pancake. You secretly wondered where the food went...

"YES WE WILL SEE YOU ONCE AGAIN AFTER YOU FINISH WITH SCHOOL." You nodded again.

"Alrighty, then. Seeya." You waved as you headed out the door. You had a feeling like this was going to be a long day.


	5. Back to School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You try to keep your life somewhat normal by attending school. You and your friend catch up, and they give you some meaningful advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long to finally finish wow. I didn't even want to write this at first haha.. Writer's block.  
> At least it's finished. Now onto the more fun stuff for next chapter!
> 
> [Side note: Arya is just a name I put in place for the reader's best female friend]

The 20 minute drive to school seemed faster than usual. You pulled into the student parking lot and locked your car, slinging the beat up grey backpack over one shoulder. One more glance at your watch told you there was plenty of time to stroll to the other side of the campus and reach your first class.

You tried to remember where you left off before the whole mishap with the timelines happened. Each class represented a finger as you counted them off. Calculus in the morning followed by a break for lunch. Then after Psychology and English in the afternoon, you'd be free! You figured the brothers would want to do something with you afterward, but a part of you wanted to get this whole thing off your chest. Being thrown between timelines really does a number on a person. You laughed to yourself as your best friend Arya came to mind. The two of you could get up to speed over lunch.

Soon enough you were knee deep in derivatives and differentiating integrals. A headache started at the back of your head about halfway through the class. Never before had those two hours seemed so long. You took a deep breath and pulled out your phone as soon as you left the building. The first contact in your list was Arya's. She picked up after the first couple of rings. Must not have been busy, you guessed.

"Hey, I just finished with class. What's up?" She sounded excited to talk to you, and you smiled.

"Same here. I was wondering if you wanted to pick something up for lunch and hang out before Psych starts?"

"Sounds good. I've been craving pizza for the past couple of days, how about that?" You chuckled.

"Sure, I'll be over in a couple minutes. See you then." She returned the comment and hung up. You weren't particularly hungry after breakfast, but if you felt peckish Arya wouldn't mind if you snuck a couple pepperoni slices off her pizza. Heading back to your car, you tried to create an outline of recent events, hoping to find the right words to describe what you had just experienced.  
__________________________________

The pizza place had a few people in it, but there were plenty of tables for you to choose from. You grabbed a two seater by the window, which presented a view of the bustling street outside. The sky was overcast and coated the tall buildings in a layer of grey. On days like these, people like you enjoyed the look of an almost rainy day.

Just then a bell triggered by the door opening. You looked up to find Arya standing there, waving at you. You smiled and waved for her to join you.

"Long time no see, right?" You joked with her as she sat down. She laughed lightly.

"Yeah, it's only been what, a few days?" You rolled your eyes. Arya dropped her bag on the floor next to yours and got up to order a personal sized ham and pepperoni pizza. When she came back with the pie in her hands, it's intense aroma wafted towards you, making your mouth water. You coughed and decided to look out the window again. You could wait until after your next class to eat something.

"So what'd you wanna talk about?" She asked, diving into the first slice. You took a deep breath.

"I've had a crazy past couple of days. Needed to get some stuff off my chest."

"Alright shoot." Instead of answering immediately you picked a piece of ham off of her pizza. She smiled and raised an eyebrow.   
"I may or may not be living with monsters." She gave you a look as if to explain further. A string of cheese stretched between her mouth and the piece she was working on.

"There were these incidents and I guess the timelines are jumping all over the place? And now I'm here with monster friends and a possible skeleton boyfriend? It's overwhelming, and I'm not sure what to do next." Arya set down the leftover crust from her piece and folded her hands under her chin, elbows on the table. You gestured to the piece and she waved it away. As you slowly nibbled on the crust she stared at you intently.

"So you're telling me that you're living with monsters?" You nodded. A moment passed before Arya broke down laughing, which startled you. After a few tries to catch her breath she finally calmed down. She noticed your expression and stopped short. "Wait, you're being serious?"

"Of course I'm being serious, why wouldn't I be? C'mon, help me out here." Her hand slid across her jaw as she glanced out the window, then back at you.

"We live in a world with monsters. It's been that way for months." Thoughts of fanfictions you read popped into your head. Maybe this timeline was a continuation of the pacifist route, allowing monsters to integrate into society once they reached the surface.

"Wait, so you're telling me that humans and monsters live together on the surface now? And it's working out?" Arya raised her eyebrow again and nodded. She clearly found this amusing. "And what about... What should I do about the skeleton thing?" There was a burst of laughter again.

"What do you mean 'what should I do'? You've been dating the guy for months now and you're just now questioning it?" You took a deep breath and leaned your elbows against the table. Hands found their way to your face and lingered, masking your expression. It seemed like the you in this timeline was a lot more easygoing about these sort of things than you were. Your friend wasn't really helping lighten the mood, but you continued anyway.

"Okay then. Theoretically..." You considered how to word your thoughts carefully. "If I was another version of myself, without any memories of what happened here with the monsters and all that... what would you suggest to do if I was suddenly thrown into it?" Your eyebrows knitted in concern, trying to express the seriousness of your words. She seemed to understand and leaned in closely.

"You wanna know what I would do?" She whispered as you nodded intently, leaning in to hear her more clearly. "I'd go ahead and bone that skeleton." She smiled widely with her teeth and made a pumping motion with her closed fist. You sat back in your chair with a hand covering your face. Neither of you could contain yourselves, suddenly bursting out in a fit of giggles.

"Holy shit that was bad." You commented, wildly embarrassed. "Seriously!"

"I am being serious." Tears started at the corners of her eyes. "I've met Sans, he seems like a pretty chill guy. I don't see why you're so worried." You sighed, running a hand through your hair in an attempt to cool down. She recognized the shift in your attitude and paused. A moment passed while she contemplated a better way to answer your question.  
"All right. Theoretically, if what you said was true, I'd say just talk to him. If he wants something but you're not sure, just talk to him. Find out who he is and see if he's the one. Ask some questions, be nosy, y'know?" That sounded like a pretty good idea.

"Heh alright." You rubbed your cheeks which ached from smiling so much. Arya checked the table and cleared out the remains of her lunch.

"I almost forgot to ask," She said as she threw the trash away. "did you want anything to eat?"

"No I'm okay, I'll get something after next class. Thanks though." She nodded and you both grabbed your bags.

"Alright then let's head out. Class starts soon." You nodded and followed her back outside, shifting the conversation to a more school related topic as you headed to the next class.   
_______________________________

Psychology. Finally a class that didn't automatically put you to sleep. You jotted down some notes on the symptoms of depression and took yet another personality quiz the professor had found online. Despite the bizarre nature of the class, it was still one of your favorites.

As soon as it was over you jogged back over to the pizza shop to grab something for yourself. You felt in the mood for a four cheese and didn't hesitate to scarf it down when it finally came out. It burned your mouth in quite a few places, but you figured you could deal with that later. The warm meal was extremely satisfying, filling you with determination to get through your next class without sleeping. You always fell asleep during English.

You just narrowly missed falling asleep during English. The professor droned on about the essay you already knew was due at the end of the month. You'd get to that eventually. More important things were at hand, like finishing that class and going home for the day.

You groaned and willed the clock to tick faster. Thankfully for once, time was on your side. Soon enough, the clock ticked over and you were done with classes for the day.

You pulled out your car keys and tossed your belongings in the back seat of your car. A yawn built in your throat and escaped just before you shut the door. No, no, you had to stay awake. Just a little longer.

On the way back, your thoughts drifted back to the conversation with Arya. She suggested to talk with Sans, find out who he is. You remembered at one point there was a list of questions you came up with if you ever got the chance to meet him, but threw them away as soon as you finished. You didn't consider it would actually happen and were too embarrassed to imagine otherwise. Thanks, you chided yourself.

Still, it seemed like a good idea to talk to him. Maybe grab something to eat and finally discuss how you got here in the first place. That sounded good. You pulled into the driveway and told yourself it could wait until tomorrow. Now was time to relax.   
You pulled the door open and dropped everything off on their designated hooks. Papyrus sat cross-legged in front of the TV, watching what appeared to be one of Mettaton's cooking shows. Sans still laid out on the couch, like you left him earlier that morning.

"Hey guys, I'm home." Papyrus turned and smiled at you, happy to see you arrived safely.

"HUMAN, COME JOIN US. THE SHOW JUST STARTED." You shrugged and flopped down at one end of the couch. Sans shifted into a sitting position so you would have plenty of room. The screen started to blur, Mettaton's blocky form became indistinguishable from the other colors on the screen.

"you doing okay, kid?" Sans asked, not looking away from the TV.

"Yeah. Just tired. It's been a long day." He nodded his head as an affirmation.

You tried to turn your focus back to the show, but inevitably you closed your eyes completely. Just a few minutes of rest and you'd be okay, you told yourself. Just a few minutes...


	6. Tour Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Valentine's Day! Sans surprises you by giving you a tour of the Underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me like four hours to write this because I kept getting distracted. Regardless, the chapter is super long. I had fun with it, haha.  
> Heads up I may not be able to write for a couple of days because there are a bunch of projects due this week. Otherwise, enjoy the fluff (:

You opened your eyes to a pitch black room. A few minutes. Right. You tried to stretch, but were constricted by an immovable object.

Somehow, you once again managed to tangle yourself with Sans. The two of you laid across the couch- your head rested on his chest as he wrapped his arms around you. One of his legs dangled over the edge. A small smile played on your lips. This was getting ridiculous.

You slowly shifted yourself to check the digital clock by your TV. 3:30 am. This didn't come as much of a surprise. Your sleeping patterns hadn't been right since the end of high school.

You rolled your eyes and turned back over so that your ear was flat on his chest. Once again, you could hear the soft hum permeating his bones. You considered asking him about it later. In the meantime, you yawned and let the soothing sound coax you back into a blanket of sleep.

_____________________________

Sunlight penetrated the curtains and fell onto your face. You stirred, the bright light bringing you to your sense. Wait a minute. You flipped the covers over and sat up to examine your surroundings. Sans had moved you to the bed again. Ironically, he was nowhere to be seen

Instead of questioning it, you yawned and rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. At a glance, the clock on your side read 11:00 am. Thankfully you could afford to sleep in. For school you had a couple days off before the next set of classes. As for today, you made sure not to plan anything so you could relax and take things easy. Before heading into the main room, you threw on a clean, oversized tee shirt and a pair of shorts.

When you got to the kitchen, the first thing you noticed was Sans standing at the counter with a bottle of ketchup in his hand. Here and there he squirted some of the red substance into his mouth and swallowed (How? You're not quite sure). Papyrus placed some dishes in the sink to be cleaned later and headed to the front door.

"Where're you going Papyrus?" You asked before he opened it.

"METTATON ASKED ME TO JOIN HIM FOR LUNCH TODAY." His smile grew wider. "DO NOT WORRY, I WILL BE BACK LATER TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU TWO." You returned his gesture and smiled, the enthusiasm was infectious. He was adorable.

"Sounds good. Hope you have fun, then." Papyrus nodded eagerly and set off on his adventure, the door clicking behind him. You made your way over to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. After cracking it open, you leaned on the door and turned to Sans.

"So, got any plans for today?" He swallowed another squirt of ketchup.

"yeah. planned to take a tour of the underground with a beautiful person." You stopped short. That was unexpected.

"Hm, alright. What's their name, if you don't mind me asking?" He set the ketchup down on the counter. Your fingers drummed across the bottle of water in anticipation. You didn't know of any others...

"_____." A heat ran across your cheeks. Oh.

"R-really now... What a coincidence." You moved as Sans returned the ketchup to the fridge. He closed the door and rested one arm against it, stopping to stare into your eyes.

"so what do you say, care to join me? or would you rather be a lazybones and sit around all day? up to you." You stifled a laugh under your hand. He called you a lazybones?

"Taking a tour sounds like fun. I've always wondered what it looked like down there." You bit your lip, wondering what brought this on. Seems like your slow day wouldn't be so slow after all. Sans adjusted the sleeves of his jacket.

"alright, then. cool." He sized up your outfit. "uh, kid, word of advice- you might want to wear something warmer." You cocked your head to the side.

"How much warmer?"

"snowdin warmer." The current outfit wouldn't have cut it at all, you realized. You held up a finger and told him you'd be right back.

A dash later and you were back in your room, rummaging through the various piles of clothing. Among them you found a maroon flannel with black stripes running across it, a plain black hoodie (mysteriously the one with Sans on it had disappeared), and a pair of black jeans. The extra layers made you comfortably warm.

You joined Sans back in the living room, money and phone in your pockets as per usual. His grin grew wider as he led you out of the house on the trek to touring the Underground.

____________________________

Rumors spread about tours to the Underground, but you had never actually seen one until then. Sans had taken you to a small building, just on the edge of the city. Inside it was plain, filled with a service desk and a large elevator. Behind the desk was a nervous looking cat man in a uniform. Burgerpants, you thought to yourself.

"What can I getcha today, lil buddy?" He asked you, suddenly trying to act casual about the conversation. Sans stepped in.

"i'm goin' back home for the day. wanted to show my friend here around the place." He gestured to you. The man nodded nervously.

"Sure thing. Anything else?"

"nope, that'll do burgerpants." He flinched at the name.

"Right. Go on ahead." As Sans turned toward the elevator, Burgerpants pulled out a cigarette and took a quick drag from it. You diverted your attention from him to Sans, as he pressed a button on the elevator and initiated the descent into the depths below.

A familiar song played slowly as you traveled deeper and deeper into the earth. You placed it as the song that played during Mettaton's cooking show. Catchy tune.

Once the doors opened, a blast of cold air filled the elevator. You shivered, but didn't take long to adjust to the weather. Sans held out his hand and you immediately took hold of it.

The elevator had dropped you off in Snowdin's forest. Snow covered trees surrounded you on all sides. Between the trunks you could see another level, far below, with even more expanses of vegetation. It was amazing how large the Underground actually was when you were in the middle of it.

After walking for a few minutes, you arrived at the entrance of Snowdin. The quiet little town was lit up with strands of colorful lights, streets fairly empty save a few of the residents. You tried to absorb every detail as Sans chuckled to himself.

"so here we are, Snowdin." He paused. "a lot of the monsters who lived here moved up to the surface when they got the chance. but with the introduction of the tours, some of them came back to their old homes and decided to stay."

"Wow." You couldn't think of much else to say. As the two of you meandered through the main stretch of town, you saw some monsters you recognized, some you didn't. Either way, the place held an air of comfort about it that kept you warm inside. Just then, a familiar establishment came into view.

"welp, here we are. my favorite spot in town." Sans gestured to the building with his free hand. You laughed and smiled widely.

"Grillby's."

"yep." He gave your hand a slight tug as he moved toward the establishment. "c'mon. let me show you around."

______________________________

A wave of heat hit you as you stepped through the doors. The booths off to your right were empty, but a lone dog with playing cards sat at a table to the left. It seemed to be playing poker against itself. Sans led you up to the seats at the bar. A prolonged farting sound rang out when you sat down. Your eyes widened in embarrassment and covered your face with both hands, laughing.

"better watch where you sit. sometimes weirdos put whoopie cushions on the seats." You elbowed him in the ribs and rolled your eyes. He found it amusing. Just then Grillby walked up and stood in front of you two, as if waiting for an order. Sans turned to you.

"what're you in the mood for?"

"Double order of burg sound okay?" You asked, he chuckled under his breath.

"actually i'm feeling like some fries today." He faced Grillby and ordered the food. The fire elemental nodded and disappeared into the back.

"Funny, don't you usually get the same thing I do?" You asked, he shrugged.

"maybe i was feeling a little different today." There was a pause.

"wait, how do you know what we usually order? i thought you didn't have any memories of this." His eye sockets narrowed in a look of suspicion. You shrugged, not entirely sure how to explain your previous interactions with him. It would probably sound weird if you told him about going there often to have conversations with him as you kept replaying the game.

By then Grillby had returned with the food and set it down in front of you. Both of you thanked him and he returned to wiping the dishes at the other end of the bar.

"bone appetite." Sans commented. You snorted right before you took a bite of the burger.

"C'mon let me take just one bite before you start rattling off puns." His smile grew wider.

"hey, i can't help that you find me humorous." You shoved him again, causing both of you to break into a fit of laughter.

Eventually you stopped long enough to enjoy your burger, and man was it good. No wonder Sans always went there. He picked aimlessly at his fries while you finished your meal. When your plate was clean, he turned his to you to reveal his creation- a heart made out of fries. You smirked.

"Man, a heart pancake followed by the fries, are you trying to tell me something?" Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.

"well, considering what day it is..." He trailed off. What day was it? You raised an eyebrow. "you do know what day it is, right?"

"Ssssunday?" You guessed, glancing off to the side then back at him. He smiled as he began to pick at the fries aimlessly.

"funny." He paused. "it's valentine's day" A shiver ran through you. Now it made sense. The stargazing, the pancake, the fries. Even Mettaton asking Papyrus out to lunch. Valentine's Day! How could you have missed that? You felt a blush rise in your cheeks.

"Oh, right. Completely forgot about that." You felt bad because you realized Sans had probably been planning things for the you in this timeline. You didn't have anything to give him in return. He seemed to read your train of thought and rested a boney hand on your shoulder.

"don't worry about it." He pointed at your plate. "all finished?" You nodded. "alright, guess we're off to the next stop then." You turned and thanked Grillby again for the food as Sans asked him to put the bill on his tab. You could have sworn Grilly sighed at that remark. Before heading outside, you took one last glance around the establishment, making the most of its warmth before embracing the starkly opposite frozen landscape outside.

__________________________

Sans led you through the more residential area of the town next, which included walking past his house. You tried to stop in front of it.

"Can I see what your house looks like?" You asked eagerly. He snuck a quick glance at it from the side and shook his head.

"maybe some other time kiddo. i have somewhere else i think you'd like to see first." You walked a little further, then Sans stopped short.

"actually, to make things easier," He paused dramatically. "i know a shortcut." You stuck out your tongue.

"A short cut." You repeated, jokingly.

"yeah." He offered his hand to you. "you trust me, right?" You shrugged and slid your hand on top of his. He held you firmly and once again you experienced the jolting sensation of teleportation. About halfway through you closed your eyes and braced for impact.

When everything stopped moving you tried to open your eyes. Just as you started, however, Sans covered them with both of his hands. His phalanges were warmer than you expected.

"Sans, what are you doing?" You asked him.

"i wanted to surprise you," He replied with a chuckle at the end. "by lighting up your day." You were confused by his comment until he removed his hands and revealed your surroundings. Luminescent water ran in rivers around you, and cascaded into small waterfalls. Echo Flowers scattered the ground, providing their own light as well. Even the ceiling was littered with hundreds, no, thousands of stones that twinkled like stars. He took you to the Waterfall.

You flopped down on the floor, taking in a deep breath. Your head rested next to a patch of Echo Flowers. Sans stifled his laugh and joined you by laying on the ground. The sound of rushing water lulled you into a calmer state.

This was your favorite area in the game and you finally had the chance to see it in person. Who would have thought. You moved so you were facing Sans.

"Thank you, for this. For everything." He gazed into your eyes and smiled.

"it's the least I could do, considering you..." He trailed off, deciding at the last moment not to say what was on his mind. Instead, he intertwined his fingers with yours and returned to staring at the ceiling. You decided you'd ask him about it later.

As you lay on the ground, you were able to see just how many crystals there were in the cavern above you. It seemed like hours had passed before Sans finally stirred and glanced at you.

"ready to head home yet?" You shook your head sleepily.

"I could stay here and stare at the ceiling forever." He snorted.

"as much as i agree, i think we should probably head back. don't want papyrus to be worried about us not being there." Right, he could be home already for all you knew.

You sat up and stretched your shoulders, popping them along the way. When you glanced back at Sans, a faint blue blush had appeared across his cheekbones. He looked a little nervous.

"Are you alright? Does the popping bother you?" You asked, cocking your head off to the side.

"oh, that? that's fine, i just- i-" It looked like he couldn't quite find the right words to explain what he was thinking. "i have another surprise for you. mind closing your eyes for a moment?" You shrugged and closed your eyes, becoming encased in the darkness.

Suddenly you felt bone press up against your lips. Your eyes flew open to find Sans there, his sockets closed. Where his lips normally would be met with yours, and for a moment it shocked you. After a few seconds, he pulled away and studied your face to gauge your reaction.

The only thing running through your mind was the same stupid thought, over and over. So you gave in.

You closed your eyes and kissed Sans back, causing him to grunt in surprise. A second later and both of you seemed to melt. Sans let his free hand wander and trace your jawline, which sent a tingle down your spine.

You broke free to take a breath of fresh air. You just kissed a skeleton, and liked it.

You were silently thankful it was dark, otherwise the blush on your face would have been blatantly obvious. Sans, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The glow of his blush had grown brighter, and he tried to focus on the scenery to cool down.

"Well, that was... interesting." You finally spoke. He nodded.

"yeah. uh, anyway..." His voice was a little shaky. "want to head back up?" You laughed nervously.

"Alright. Lead the way." You held your hand out for him to take, and he firmly grasped it. A nice ending to a surprisingly pleasant day. As you strolled back in the direction of Snowdin, you heard a passing conversation.

"You know it can't last. Soon enough he'll snap, and go back to the way he used to be." That voice.

Your eyes widened. You spun around just in time to see a smiling flower pop its head underneath the ground.


	7. Unexpected Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You come back from the adventure in the underground to find Papyrus had returned (and he brought someone home with him).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [warning there are spoilers for the end of the Pacifist Route in this chapter]
> 
> Hey guys... Haha sorry I've been absent for the past week. Between a bunch of projects and the daily stress of life I couldn't write until today. (and even then it's just another filler hhh my apologies) Things should get interesting in the next chapter; stay tuned.

Your heart just about jumped out of your chest. Flowey was still loose in the Underground.

You remembered your adventures with Flowey, and how on multiple occasions he tricked you into buying his innocent flower schtick. At least, that was until he harnessed the human souls and transformed into a terrifying monster. Finding him outside the game could spell nothing but trouble.

Sans snapped you back to reality by placing his hand on your shoulder. You flinched, startled, but quickly regained composure. He raised an eyebrow. 

"everything alright?" You smiled, exposing your teeth a little. It felt strained.

"Yeah. I just.. thought I saw something." One more glance behind you, then back to Sans. His brow furrowed, but dropped his concerns as he brushed a strand of hair away from your face.

"If you say so." You sighed and the two of you began the slow walk back to the surface elevators.

As much as you wanted to tell him about it, Flowey's comment rang in your head. Sans might go back to the way he used to be. Despite researching the game in your timeline, you still weren't entirely sure how things translated into real life situations. You wanted to ask Sans for advice, but if you mentioned Flowey's name he might do something drastic. Would he try to protect you by preventing you from visiting the Underground again? You shook your head to clear it. 

You blinked and suddenly snow crunched beneath your shoes. A shiver ran down your spine. Sans teleported you two again, and the entrance to the elevator was already in sight. He squeezed your hand to make sure you were okay. You smiled at him and squeezed back. You could worry about the situation later.   
________________________________

One long elevator ride and yet another teleportation trip later the two of you stepped up to the front of your apartment. You fumbled with your keys for a moment when you heard a loud noise from inside. You and Sans exchanged a quick look of concern. The keys quickly slipped into the lock and the door clicked open.

A loud thump resounded the room, causing for you and Sans to stand on guard. Just then, Papyrus jumped up from behind the couch and smiled widely. He rested his elbows on the back of the couch as you eyed him questioningly.

"WELL HELLO THERE YOU TWO. I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU HAVE ARRIVED HOME SAFELY." There was a noticeable pause. "HAVE YOU TWO EATEN DINNER YET?" His movements seemed more jumpy than usual. He seemed nervous. 

"We had some food over at Grillby's, but that was a while ago." You trailed off to look at the clock, finding it was only 6:00 pm. It seemed like it had been longer than that. You turned to Sans. "Are you hungry?"

"you're really gonna ask me that?" He smirked and you scratched the back of your head.

"Right. Not eating is a skeleton thing, sorry. Force of habit." You turned to address Papyrus when a metallic cough rang out. Papyrus cleared his throat and scratched his jaw as he looked off to the side.

"mettaton is that you on the floor over there?" Sans asked, a hint of frustration tinging his voice. There was a shuffle of clothing and a slight clunk of metal. The flamboyant robot popped his head up and leaned over the back of the couch, smiling dreamily. An orange glow seemed to grow across Papyrus's cheekbones. 

"Hello darling~." He waved by twiddling his fingers. You caught yourself before any more than a smirk broke through your otherwise neutral expression. Apparently lunch wasn't the only thing Mettaton had in mind for the day. You brushed against your mouth to wipe away the ever growing grin across your face.

"Not sure what exactly you two were up to just now- not gonna ask- but I think Papyrus was right. Dinner sounds good right about now." Papyrus nodded adamantly and scaled the couch to cut the distance between him and the kitchen. You winced as his boot narrowly missed catching on the cushions. You, Sans and Mettaton stood there in an awkward silence while Papyrus began cooking the meal. Mettaton's eyes shifted from you to Sans, then back to you. He was unusually quiet.

"So..." You ventured to start a conversation. "How was your day with Papyrus?" Mettaton somehow blushed a little and glanced off to the side. He relaxed more into the back of the couch, his head rested on top of his robotic arms.

"It was lovely. We went out to lunch, saw a movie, then came back here and decided to just talk." You smiled and bit your lip at the last comment. Just talk. Right. Mettaton shifted the focus to you. "And how was your day, beautiful?" You stammered a laugh and rubbed the back of your head.

"It was amazing. I haven't had a Valentine's Day like this in, well, ever. Sans took me down to the Underground to check out some other places like Snowdin and the Waterfall. Hope we can go back sometime soon." Mentioning the underground caught Mettaton's attention. He paused, almost startled, and addressed Sans.

"Is it really safe to-" He stopped himself and you glanced at Sans. His expression had changed from frustrated to irritated. A second later it softened, as he discovered you studying him. 

"Everything was fine. I had it under control." His attempt at a pun fell flat as both Mettaton and you stared at him. He shoved his hands in his pockets, ending the conversation there.

Your thoughts returned to Flowey for a brief moment, wondering if that was what Mettaton was referring to. As you shoved the thought away yet again, Papyrus turned and exclaimed the food was ready. A wave of relief hit you. Maybe now things wouldn't be so tense in the room.

After everyone (meaning just you and Papyrus) had emptied the pot of spaghetti you noticed your eyelids getting heavy. Mettaton and Papyrus started talking again- something about plans for a new hotel on the surface- ignoring the fact that you and Sans were still there. You couldn't make the details out through your drowsiness but it seemed to be picking up in intensity. You turned to Sans sleepily and nudged his arm with the back of your hand.

"I think I'm going to head in early tonight. It's been a long day." You laughed weakly. "Tell Pap and Mettaton the spare bedroom's open." You paused. "Thanks again. For today, I mean." He smiled, one that actually met his eyes.

"no problem. tibia honest, i had a great time too." You felt a heat in your cheeks and stood up off the bar in the kitchen.

"Glad to hear." You said, becoming increasingly embarrassed. He laughed.

"night then, kiddo. " He saluted you and you returned the gesture before disappearing into your room and flopping down face first onto the bed.


	8. Time to Be Nosy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You take your friend's advice and be nosy by asking Sans a bunch of questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so tired haha. FINALLY finished all of my presentations for English, p happy about that. I wrote a lot, heads up this chapter is a little long.  
> Side note: these questions came from a list I came up with like a month before writing this. Fun times. Maybe I'll go into theories and answer them later. Maybe.  
> Anyway, enjoy the next installment. Thank you for sticking with me!

Somehow in the middle of the night you managed to bury yourself neck-deep under the covers. Wait. Your arm brushed against someone as you rolled over. Sans was snoring lightly, one hand on the pillow hid his face. As cute as you found him to be like this, it wasn't long before the warmth of the blanket drew you back into the lull of sleep.

When you woke up the second time it was before noon. The sun streamed through your window into your face. You raised your hands to cover your eyes in a futile attempt to shade them from the burning sensation. Way too bright. You sat up to stretch and noticed you were alone in your bed.

A part of you was a little disappointed Sans wasn't there. You were left alone in the cold, bright room to get ready for the day.

You grabbed a towel from the hallway closet and ran to the shower. It felt good to soak in the warm water after a good night's sleep. It had been quite a while since you had one that long.

After the shower you felt revitalized and ready for the day. You returned to your room and grabbed a tank top with a purple space design on it. Add some black jeans and black converse and you were good to go.

You grabbed a brush as you left your room and made your way to the main room. As expected, the skeleton brothers were there, relaxing on opposite ends of the couch. You waved and said good morning to them. As they replied respectively you flopped down in the middle of the couch. Yet another of Mettaton's brand name shows was on TV. You looked around for Mettaton, but couldn't find him. You figured at some point in the morning he went back home.

It was quiet for a moment, but then your train of thought drifted to Sans. You still wanted to bring up some things with him, but didn't have the chance because of yesterday's unexpected (yet enjoyable) adventure. Visiting the coffee shop came to mind and you decided to invite him.

"Hey Sans, do you have anything planned today?" His eyes left the screen briefly to look at you, but returned just as quickly.

"not that i know of. why?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the coffee shop. Thought we could talk about some stuff." You emphasized the last part of your sentence, hoping he would get the picture. He seemed to understand.

"sure thing." He stood up and you started to make your way back to your room when Papyrus spoke up.

"IT SEEMS LIKE YOU ARE TRYING TO STEAL SANS AWAY FROM ME BY SPENDING ALL THIS TIME WITH HIM." He looked hurt. Sans bent over and put his hand on Papyrus's shoulder.

"oh pap, i'm sorry. i didn't know you'd be so bonely without me." You snickered and covered your mouth with your hand. Papyrus sighed.

"Nevermind. You can keep him." Both you and Sans broke down laughing. You leaned on the doorway for support until you remembered why you had gotten up in the first place. A deep breath of air and you were back on track. You grabbed some money and your phone from your room and motioned to Sans you were ready to go. He nodded and followed you to the door.

"We'll be back later, okay? I'll bring something home for you." Papyrus perked up when you said that.

"OKAY. SEE YOU SOON." You grabbed your keys and once again, the two of you were off.

_____________________________

The coffee shop was a few minutes' walk away from your apartment. A slight breeze tousled your hair as you walked, otherwise the trip was eerily silent.

Once you got into the coffee shop you took a deep breath. The scent of coffee surrounded you, putting you at ease. You smiled and checked on Sans, who seemed to be taking in the new environment.

"Why don't you find a table while I get something to drink?" You suggested. He nodded. You turned back and skimmed over the menu, despite already knowing what you would order.

As soon as you claimed your drink, you scanned the room to find Sans seated at a table next to the window. You set the drink down and pulled up a chair. He stared out the window with a faraway expression. You laid a hand on the arm he rested on the table. He turned to you with a confused look.

"You doing all right? You've been quieter than usual." You asked. He smirked and narrowed his eyes as he focused on the table space in front of you.

"it's fine." He took a deep breath. "i was just thinking about what mettaton said yesterday, and maybe it wasn't the best idea to take you down there. not yet." You raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? I thought it went well." You shrugged and drummed your fingers on the cup in front of you. Still too hot.

"yeah, don't get me wrong. i enjoyed what we did yesterday. but things could have been different. there's still some things we need to sort out down there and the last thing i need is putting you in danger." He trailed off, obviously feeling guilty. You placed a hand reassuringly on his arm and rubbed it with your thumb.

"I'm flattered you're concerned, but are things really that bad?" He couldn't meet your eyes. "C'mon, talk to me." You insisted. Sans patted your hand with his own.

"it's fine, don't worry about it." You blew a puff of air out, realizing this wasn't going anywhere.

"Okay then, want to talk about something else?" He raised an eyebrow as you retrieved your hand.

"that depends on what you have in mind" You smiled and stuck your tongue out.

"I'm sorry, this'll probably sound really cheesy but how about we ask random questions? (like that one, hah.. ah..) Y'know, get to know each other, that sort of thing." He pondered that for a moment, then shrugged.

"sounds interesting. would we switch off or something?" You nodded.

"Yeah. One of us starts, then we switch off once the other answers. Alright?" His smile grew deviously wide.

"okay, then. you start." You thought for a moment.

"What started your love for bad puns?"

"going easy on me, huh?" You shrugged.

"More or less."

"alright." He scratched the back of his head while you opened the lid to your hot chocolate and blew. A waft of steam rose and tickled your nose.

"when i was a little kid my dad used to take pap and i to get nice cream from the vendor whenever he got time off of work. it was fun. he read the jokes off the wrappers and afterward we'd play in the snow." His smile became more sincere the longer he thought about it. You figured those were pleasant memories for him and couldn't help smiling yourself. He snapped himself out of the daze and turned back to you.

"alright now your turn. what's up with your timeline? you said we weren't real there." He looked a little concerned. His expression made you a little nervous as you attempted to stutter out a reply.

"It's not that you weren't real, it's just you guys- all the monsters- didn't exist in the physical world. We knew you as characters in a video game. Something programmed for our enjoyment." You paused to gauge his reaction, which didn't seem to improve as you explained. "Ah... I-I'm sorry." You took a quick sip of the hot chocolate before glancing back at him. He waved it away.

"don't worry about it. it's just a weird concept. especially when you consider your situation, meeting us." Now it was your turn to wave it away. "anyway," he continued. "what do you have for me next?"

"What do you remember from the timelines? Like, do your memories transfer over the resets or are you just highly perceptive?" He had to clear his throat. Clearly you had hit a touchy subject.

"yeah, that." He took a deep breath. "the memories do transfer over. doesn't matter how many times or which path we traveled. i met you over and over. you looked the same, but acted differently each time i saw you. there were some times i even had to-" He stopped. "i'm sorry." You closed your eyes and for a brief moment the thought of Sans murdering you flashed across your lids. But when you opened them, he sat there in front of you. The Sans you knew. The one who wouldn't hurt you.

"It's okay. Things are different this time around, right?" He nodded weakly. "I'm sorry, these sort of things are painful, but maybe they could come in handy?" You waited a moment for him to look back at you. When he didn't, you continued your train of thought. "I mean, they could be a clue as to figuring out why the timeline is all screwy." He affirmed your comment with another nod.

"right. speaking of which, what do you know about us from before you came here?"

"I-" You paused to collect your thoughts. "Most of what I know comes from the games I played. Otherwise I met you in person two times before finally landing here. The first time I had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't expecting you to be real. You killed me without hesitation that time." Another pause passed. "And the other time you listened for a moment, but still thought it was best to kill me. I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't changed your mind at the last second." Your fingers drummed on the cup. "We were about to talk about the timeline skips when everything faded to white. Then I found myself here with you." He was shocked.

"_____ . i-i'm sorry." He took hold of one of your hands.

"It's fine. Not your fault, right? You didn't know." He stroked the back of your hand with his thumb absentmindedly and glanced off to the side.

"right... didn't know." He looked almost... nervous. You didn't want to dwell on the subject for much longer. It seemed to be depressing both of you as time went on. You decided to ask another question in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Hey, here's a new one." That grabbed his attention. "How does magic work? Can you make stuff appear just if you will it to?" You mentally facepalmed yourself. Changing the topic and this is what you had in mind? You sincerely hoped he wouldn't take that the wrong way.

"magic is an interesting concept. it's unique to each monster. the strength of the monster determines the strength of their magic. it can pretty much be manipulated to do whatever they want. " He paused, and for a second you wondered if he was finally onto you. That he would insinuate... "as for making things appear, yeah i can. sometimes i use magic to help me eat, that sort of stuff." You took a sip of your drink and nodded.

"Makes sense." He raised an eyebrow at you. Oh no. "What?" You asked him defensively.

"there any specific reason why you asked me that last one?"

"Nope. Just curious."

"just curious. right." He smirked and leaned forward. "just curious to see if i could make something magically appear?" He waggled his eyebrows up and down, which nearly made you choke in mid-sip. After setting the cup down you scrunched your nose at him.

"aha! i'm on track. lemme guess." He placed his hand on his chin as if he were deep in thought. "it's the tongue, isn't it." You rolled your eyes and stuck your own tongue out.

"Guess that would be interesting to know. Though that goes along with how you eat so I guess you already answered that. Nevermind." Sans leaned back in his chair, still staring at you.

"i can, actually."You paused.

"What?" Sans rolled his eyes and adjusted his jaw. When he opened his mouth, inside was a faintly glowing electric blue tongue. Not entirely a human tongue- it was slender with a slightly more elongated tip. Half of it stuck out of his mouth, lazily resting against his bone. You lost your train of thought and almost knocked your drink over as you leaned forward to study it. Sans retracted his tongue behind the smile plastered across his face. He opened his mouth once more and it was gone. You quickly went from feeling intrigued to embarrassed. Sans decided to press you.

"what the matter, something caught your tongue?" You smiled but didn't give in.

"Funny." A breath. "Seriously though, wow."

"you should see it in the dark." You rolled your eyes. "also that's not the only thing i can make appear." 

"Um, what do you mean?"

"well whenever you're around i get this huge bone-" You cut him off, mortally embarrassed to be talking about that in public.

"SANS! Oh my god..." He snickered.

"well i guess i'll see your fascination with tongues and raise you an even better question." Oh boy, here it comes. "what did you think about last night?" You knew what he wanted to hear, but ended up repeating what you said the previous night.

"It was amazing. The waterfall was my favorite part."

"anything else?" He prompted. Heat started in your cheeks.

"Not unless you rephrase the question." He paused for a moment, then looked you straight in the eyes.

"do you like me?" The question filled you with dread. All of a sudden your thoughts came together and twisted into a jumbled mess. You couldn't talk straight, and took a sip of hot chocolate for good measure. After a deep breath, you regained at least a little more formality.

"There's something, yeah. Not exactly sure what it is yet, though. It seems there are still some big differences between the me you knew and who I actually am now." He gave you a blank look. You continued. "I mean, I'm sorry, I feel bad because you're probably doing this all over again but I personally don't know you that well. Not yet. I need a little time to sort out how I feel." He nodded solemnly. You reached across the table and patted his arm. He cracked a smile.

"alright, i get it. sorry for throwing the question at you like that." You shook your other hand to wave it away.

"It's fine, really." You paused for a moment, glancing at what little remained of your drink. You turned back to Sans. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound like a rejection!" You fumbled with your words. "J-just a 'sometime later' sort of thing." He laughed a little at your nervousness, probably because he was nervous too.

"in the meantime...?" He prompted. Your eyes searched the ceiling.

"Hm, I think we're okay." You hummed. He bowed his head in an attempt to hide his grin. (Needless to say you could still see it).

"Anyway, ready to head back?" You asked. He shrugged.

"sure if you want." You nodded and got up to throw away your trash. As Sans came to join you, you held up a finger.

"I need to grab something really quick. Promised Papyrus I'd get him something." You stood back in line at the counter, but ordered something from the bakery section instead. It appeared as if it had expanded since you had last been there. Monster items were now on the menu. Perfect.

You asked the clerk for a spider donut and a spider cider. He rang it up and provided a small purple bag with black spider webbing on it. Turns out your proceeds went to spiders in need. You smiled and turned back to Sans.

"Okay now I'm ready." You held up the bag and he laughed.

"pap's going to love it." You smiled and wove your fingers in between his.

"Then let's go show him." The bell at the entrance sounded as you led the way back home.


	9. Your Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After coming back from the coffee shop, you, Sans, and Papyrus decide to stay in and watch movies. Despite your protests, you fall asleep, and in turn encounter an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter's finally done! I kept getting distracted by that piano tile game haha.  
> Needless to say, I had fun writing this chapter. The story is starting to get interesting...  
> Hope you guys like it. Once again, thank you for reading!

The lock clicked and you opened the door to find an eager looking skeleton standing there.

"We're home." You laughed and held up the bag. "Got you something." He grabbed the bag and wandered over to the bar.

"YOU GOT ME MUFFET ITEMS! THANK YOU." He exclaimed as he dove into the bag and pulled the donut out. You dropped your keys at the door and flopped down on the length of the couch, an arm resting over your eyes. You could hear Sans follow, then stop right in front of you.

"comfy?" He asked with a chuckle. You hummed an affirmative response.

Suddenly his bony hands slid underneath your back and held you suspended midair for a moment. Sans sat down hurriedly, then placed you on his lap so you could remain lying down. You wiggled a little to adjust your position. Sans was surprisingly comfortable.

You smiled and laid your arm above your head. Sans had his eyes on you until you moved your arm, then they traveled back to the TV- which for once, wasn't on.

"So what are the plans for the rest of the day?" You asked him, once again feeling drowsy.

"how about we just pop in a movie and stay in?" You nodded, more than eager to remain in your comfortable spot.

"Sounds good, but, uh." You laughed and patted his side. "You seem to be preoccupied at the moment." He rolled his eyes.

"pap, could you do me a favor?"

"THAT DEPENDS. WHAT DID YOU HAVE IN MIND?" Papyrus had finished his snack by then and leaned forward on the back of the couch.

"There's a stack of movies by the TV, could you pick one and pop it in?" You chimed in. He thought for a second.

"OKAY. AS LONG AS I CAN WATCH IT WITH YOU."

"If you want, sure." You slid your arm back over your eyes to shield the light. It was tempting to check out right then and there, but you were determined to make it through at least one movie before taking a nap.

Papyrus popped the movie in, then settled in on the reclining chair. He pulled his legs pulled up to his chest, arms holding them together. The movie flicked on and thus began the afternoon marathon.

First up on the list was The Road to El Dorado. Despite being exhausted, you still managed to sing along to a couple of the musical numbers. Sans smirked at you. The next movie was about to start but the need for a break finally caught up to you. You rolled over to lay flat on your back, once again using your arm as a shield from the light. Within a few minutes, you succumbed to sleep and became shrouded in a veil of darkness.

____________________________________

Okay, you had to admit, maybe it was a bit too dark. You couldn't see anything in front of you, despite your attempts to walk around and figure out where you were. Finally in the distance, you spotted a light illuminating a small patch of grass. As you came closer, you stopped short. Wait a minute.

You scanned the rest of the room- still pitch black and nothing to see. At least, that was until you turned back around. In the middle of the grass a small flower had appeared. Its pale face had a wide smile on it.

"Howdy _____. Long time no see?" Flowey was in one of your dreams. After the initial shock wore off, you reminded yourself, yes, it was just a dream. He couldn't hurt you here.

"How are things between you and smiley trashbag?" He continued. You cleared your throat and replied sternly.

"You shouldn't be here. Why are you following me?"

"Aw, come on. I thought we were friends?" His face contorted to reveal a crazed look in his eye. Vines pierced the ground and arched five feet in the air before hurtling back toward the earth. They twisted and turned, winding themselves around your legs and waist. The wind was knocked out of you as you landed square on your back. Flowey's small form appeared inches from the left your face.

"Buddy. Pal. Why don't you sit down and take a load off?" You tried to slow your breathing and shake the burning sensation in your chest due to the lack of air. In an effort of retaliation, you took a swing at him. He popped his head under the ground right before you made contact, causing your hand to collide with the hard surface.

"Let me go!" You cried out. The words had barely escaped your mouth when the vines tightened around your legs. You gasped out of shock, not expecting Flowey to have this much hold over you. He reappeared on the other side of your head and cleared his throat.

"Now that I have your attention, I wanted to talk to you. You were helping me so readily a few timelines ago, and now this?" The stalks slithered upward, now enveloping your stomach and rib-cage. Another squeeze and you cried out in pain. "What happened? We were so close." You steadied your voice just enough to speak.

"What do you mean I helped you? You want to kill people, I can't agree to that." Flowey clucked his tongue at you.

"Don't you get it? Everything transfers over here, whether you want it to or not. That genocide run? It still exists." You shook your head, not wanting to believe what Flowey said. Once again, the choices you made came back to bite you. He pressed you further.

"But you couldn't do it, could you. No matter how many times this guy killed you, no matter how many of his friends you brutally murdered, you wouldn't finish him off. Something about him struck a chord, huh." You shook your head, the pit in your stomach growing unbearable.

"I didn't mean to. I didn't think-" You stopped short due to Flowey's almost maniacal laughter.

"You didn't think." He scoffed. "You were fully aware of the consequences. You willingly accepted the task of eradicating every last monster. Or so I thought. Since you left the job unfinished, I was forced to come here and find you. I need you to finish the job." You squeezed your eyes shut for a moment, hoping the dream would somehow end.

"I'm not going to help you. This isn't real. You're not really here." As soon as the words left your mouth, you had a sinking feeling they might not be true. Flowey constricted the vines once again, causing the edges of your vision to darken.

"Not real, huh? Well then, this should be interesting." In an attempt to distract him, you tried to keep the conversation going.

"Flowey wait! Why are you doing this? What have the humans and monsters done to make you hate them this much?" He sighed and studied the floor.

"In this form I have realized that humans are worthless. Yeah they have their determination, but they seek to destroy things they don't understand. Besides, isn't that how you found our world in the first place? To get away from them?" Thoughts from the original timeline came back to you.

You were lonely- parents who never had enough time to spend with you, supposed friends who barely talked to you during school, let alone outside of it. The stress of your daily life forced you to seek distractions, which is how you found the game. It helped you escape to a fantasy world, where you could make yourself believe everything was okay. You tried to play the game as much as possible, as it was the only thing keeping you from being depressed. However, the ride nearly came to an abrupt stop when you realized the only route left to take was genocide. You had spent so much time meeting new people and making friends- you didn't want to hurt them.

And yet you did it. You reasoned it would be okay. It was just a game, and after you finished the run and reset, everything would go back to being normal. But it didn't. You didn't even have time to finish the run before you were ripped from one timeline and plunged into the next.

Though what Flowey said was right. You had developed a soft spot for Sans. Whether it was his puns or his goofy grin or even the air of mystery about him, you couldn't tell. Whatever it was, when you entered the genocide route, a dread hung over you knowing you would eventually have to fight him. When the time finally came, you stalled as much as possible in an attempt to avoid the inevitable. At least with the timeline jumping you still didn't have to kill him. He, on the other hand, had no problem doing it time and time again.

You shook your head. Flowey was trying to mess with you, and for a moment, it almost worked. The more he broke you down, the closer you would be to saying yes. No matter what, you couldn't let that happen.

"That doesn't matter. That's not a valid justification to go around killing everyone." You remarked. Flowey rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." He continued his speech. "The monsters aren't the same way, but after what you did in the other timelines? Boy, all I can say is I wouldn't want to be in your shoes." He shrugged his leaves up and down. "You might as well join me and get this over with." But you refused.

"I already told you, I won't do it." He sighed.

"If I can't reason with you, then I guess I have to make you understand." He disappeared under the ground again, leaving you alone in the dark. The vines continued to wind about you, tighter and tighter. You shut your eyes again and tried to distract yourself from the immeasurable pain.

"Flowey get your ass back here and let me go!" You screamed into the void. You were about to yell again when the echo of footsteps caused you to stop. They appeared to be coming from the left side. It was extremely difficult to move, but you managed to wiggle just enough and roll over onto your side. After letting loose a huff of air, you glanced up to see a familiar face heading in your direction. You immediately perked up.

"Sans! Thank god you're here. I need help getting out of these vines. Flowey..." You trailed off, realizing he wasn't listening to you. He simply glared at you until he was about a foot away from your head. You swallowed hard.

"Sans?" You asked timidly. He sighed deeply.

"after what you did with my friends, with everyone." He paused. "they're gone because of you. why the hell would i help a monster like that?" Your stomach dropped. So this is what Flowey meant by making things interesting.

Sans grabbed you by the collar of your shirt and lifted you up. You were close enough that the heat from his glowing eye nearly singed your skin. His voice was deep and menacing.

"Sans, it's me, remember? _____!"

"it's over." A barrage of bones erupted from the floor and penetrated your body in all of its vital areas. A blinding pain shot through you, causing you to release an blood curdling scream. After what seemed like an eternity, Sans finally let his attack fade. As the bones dissipated, you dropped to the floor like a limp doll. Your head lolled to the side and with the last of your consciousness, you saw Flowey pop his head out of the ground. He smiled widely.

"Don't worry, Chara. We'll be together soon."


	10. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You give the brothers a start when you wake up from the dream in a state of panic. Sans tries to press you on the matter, but you choose to divert the conversation to something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started using more puns in this chapter haha. (Have I mentioned I love puns?)  
> (Also action movies. Movie days are always fun.)

You woke with a start, sitting straight up and gasping for air. In the moment you completely forgot you had fallen asleep on Sans. Your sudden movement startled him- his arm wrapped protectively around you, his eye flashed blue in anticipation of the danger that entailed.  
Except the only danger you focused on was Sans himself. His glowing eye reminded you yet again of the side you had just faced. You scrambled away from him and fell off the couch with a thud. Your back hit the chair Papyrus was sitting in and you nervously glanced between him and Sans. There were tears on your cheeks.  
"Kid are you-" He tried to reach for you, but you held your arms up defensively.  
"SANS STOP. YOU'RE SCARING THE HUMAN." You felt Papyrus's gloved hand rest on your shoulder as he situated himself on the floor. You shrunk away from his touch and immediately stood up. The brothers looked at you with a mixture of confusion and concern.  
"I-I'm sorry. I don't want to be touched right now." You turned to the kitchen and nearly stumbled on the way to the kitchen sink. The shock of the dream hadn't worn off yet. "Just give me a moment to catch my breath." A moment of silence passed while you assumed the brothers exchanged nervous glances. At least they gave you some space.  
You turned the faucet on and let the water run for a moment before splashing some on your face. Deep breath- in and out.  
"Uh, _____? You alright?" Sans's voice sounded tentative. You lowered your head so it rested in your hands. It was just a dream. You were all right, sure. For now.  
A part of you knew Flowey wasn't kidding when he said he would come for you. Though the last thing you would do is let him throw you off again. Focus. Another deep breath.  
"Yeah. Just woke up from a weird dream is all. Sorry to worry you guys." You patted your face dry and turned to face them. A smile was forced onto your face in an attempt to reassure them. Papyrus returned a weak smile, but Sans knew better. He gave you a look as if to ask 'Seriously, what happened?'. When Papyrus turned away, you mouthed back 'later'. He held your gaze for a moment longer, then nodded and turned back to the TV.  
Suddenly an idea popped into your head.  
"I'm going to be in my room for a little bit. Want to check on something. I'll join you in a little while, okay?" They mumbled their respective agreements and you half walked, half jogged to your room.  
__________________________  
You closed the door behind you and leaned on it. One quick scan of the room and you found what you were looking for. You picked up a relatively new black laptop bag and pulled out your computer. It flicked to life as you jumped onto the bed and made yourself comfortable.  
While it was booting up, your thoughts wandered back to the dream. You needed to decide what the next course of action would be.  
Ironically, other than the scare you just had in the living room, you had already begun to think more clearly about the whole 'harbinger of destruction' deal. The only time you saw Flowey was in the underground, so all you had to do was avoid going there. Sounded easy enough.  
As for Sans, well, you could fibulate (haha) what happened and just say there was a flashback to your old life. It wasn't entirely untrue. You would just choose to omit the parts that concerned him the most. Like Flowey, and killing everyone.  
You stretched your arms above your head. Things were under control. But just in case...  
The laptop finished loading and you pulled up the web browser. Search: weed killer.  
Just then, there was a knock at your door. You minimized the browser and slammed the laptop shut. You took a wild guess as to who it was.  
"Uh, come in." Sans poked his head through the doorway.  
"you sure?" After the stunt you pulled no wonder the guy was so tentative. You nodded and patted the space on the bed next to you. He sat down slowly and placed his hands behind him so he could lean back. He cleared his throat.  
"so." He started awkwardly.  
"So." You responded nonchalantly.  
“you care to tell me what's going on here?" Your hands slid across the smooth silver cover of the laptop as you contemplated how to word it. "i mean sorry for pressing you, but this has happened a couple times now and-" A deep breath.  
"I had a flashback to my old life, that's all. It's not a big deal." You shrugged, but the words had come out too quickly. He raised an eyebrow. You bit your lip. "What, did you want to hear my life story or something?" Sans raised his hands defensively.  
"Sorry. Just thought it might help for you to talk about it." You sighed and drummed your fingers absent-mindedly.  
"Alright. Promise you won't laugh?" He nodded.  
"unless you start cracking jokes, no. i won't." You smiled weakly.  
You skipped the minor details about the everyday struggle your life was composed of. The focus became your depression, and how it got to the point where you didn't see a point to life any more. That was, until, you found the game Undertale.  
Sans nodded here and there, respectfully waiting for you to finish the story. When you were done with the big stuff, you flopped down on the bed to stare at the ceiling. Stickers of stars that glowed in the dark were concentrated in the area above your bed. Many of them were peeling due to how many times they had been rearranged. You continued the conversation.  
"It's still crazy to think that something I used to only dream about is now a reality. You'd think after being around you guys this long, even if it has only been a few days, I'd be used to it already." You closed your eyes.  
"do you want to go back?" Sans asked you quietly, causing your eyes to fly open. You paused for a moment. Did you really want to go back?  
Out of habit you said you did. Despite how it had been, that was where you belonged. Not in some place you would only fantasize of having nice home and a sweet boyfriend and caring friends and...  
There were boney hands on your shoulders as Sans pulled you into his chest for a hug. Damp spots appeared on the hood of his jacket. You mentally chided yourself for crying again, but sank into his hold. It felt nice to be comforted.  
After a few minutes you let go and told him you were feeling better. He nodded and scratched the back of his head.  
"hey, i was wondering. do you have any plans for tomorrow?" He asked, trying to segway the conversation onto a different topic. You shrugged.  
"I have school until lunch, but afterward I'll be free for the rest of the day." His smile grew a little wider.  
"cool. I have another place in the underground I think you'd like." Shit.  
"Oh really?" You ask hesitantly. Sans didn't seem fazed.  
"yeah we can have dinner there, say, around 5 o'clock?" You returned the smile.  
"Sure, sounds good." Shit. Why did you say yes?  
You knew it would be dangerous to go back to the underground, but a part of you couldn't say no to Sans. He looked really excited, wherever he planned to take you. He pushed himself off the bed and took a quick step to regain his balance on the floor.  
"well then i guess i'll leave you to your business. i'm sure it's electrifying." You smirked and made a grab at your chest like you were having a heart attack.  
"Man, that really struck a cord with me."  
"i'm glad these jokes compute."  
"Don't overdo it, you might crash."  
"i wouldn't worry about it. there's still enough battery life left in me." By this point you were snickering so hard you couldn't say the next joke. You decided to give it a rest and let Sans win.  
After the laughter between you two died down, Sans once again made a move toward the door. You set the laptop down on your desk and stood up to join him.  
"I think I've had enough sleep for a while. Might as well watch some more movies with you guys." Sans shrugged as if to say go ahead, he wouldn't stop you.  
______________________________  
Back in the living room, Papyrus was tuned in to yet another one of Mettaton's shows. As soon as you and Sans entered the room, he flicked the channel to something else. Apparently Law and Order.  
You laughed under your breath and took a seat with Sans on the couch. He laid an arm over the top of the couch while you situated yourself, resting your head on his shoulder. His arm slid off the couch and found its way to your waist, playing with the hem of your shirt. You poked his face. He smiled and gave it a rest.  
Instead of popping movies in, you took control of the remote and flicked through the channels until something interesting came on. You felt satisfied once you found the action genre station, and let it run for a while.  
After a couple of movies Papyrus fell asleep, leaving you and Sans alone to comment on the rest that came on. As the end credits of one scrolled across the screen, you stopped and turned to him.  
"Sans?" You asked to get his attention.  
"yeah?"  
"Thanks for helping me earlier." There was a pause, then you could feel him press upon the top on your head in a kiss.  
"no problem vertabae."


	11. From Bad to Worse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake up and begin your day in the best way- anime style. After putting a piece of toast in your mouth and dashing out the door, you are pumped and ready to face the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhh  
> This was an interesting chapter to write. Things are picking up yet again.  
> [side comment: with the energy drink, that was a personal ref again haha. Except my hyperness well exceeds an hour. Fun times..]

At some point during the night, you fell asleep. Your neck was pinched from leaning on Sans for so long. In an attempt to keep quiet, you slowly unearthed your arm from between his back and the couch. After standing up to stretch, your shoulders and back popped. One quick glance and you could tell the skeleton duo was still fast asleep. A smile played across your lips.  
  
Sans had tucked himself into the corner of the couch. One arm laid across the back of it, while the other took residence on the arm rest. His head slumped forward onto his chest. On the other side, Papyrus made Sans’s sleeping position seem tame in comparison. He had made himself more comfortable by flipping upside down in the reclining chair. His feet hung in the open air over the back while the floor cushioned his skull.  
  
Another quick tug and your arms were thoroughly stretched. You turned to check the clock by the TV, which clicked over to 8 o’clock. If you didn't leave the house in the next ten minutes, you'd be late for class.  
  
You pulled some fresh clothes out of your room- an orange tee shirt that was ripped to reveal the anatomy of a skeleton underneath, and a pair of black jeans. The backpack rested on the hook, your shoes sat by the door, all that was left was a piece of toast in your mouth as you ran outside. Then you’d officially reach anime status.  
  
You grabbed everything you needed, cast one more look at the sleeping brothers, then headed off to school for what seemed like a good day.  
  
_____________________  
  
It was not the start of a good day, to say the least.  
  
Apparently construction had started on your usual route, and you were forced to take the scenic route. At least the view there was nice. Bright green maple trees lined the neighborhood roads, illuminated by the sun from behind. You yawned when you came to the next stop sign,and briefly shut your eyes to compose yourself. Maybe last night had been a little too much, despite how much sleep you already had previously.  
  
Suddenly an image flashed across your lids. Flowey was there, his demented smile nearly ingrained into your retinas. You gasped, suddenly awake, and floored the gas. In your haste, you narrowly missed a collision with the car coming from your side. A swerve to the left, then back to your side of the road and things were back to normal. Sort of.  
  
A few minutes of the heart pounding drive later, you finally reached school. You read your watch- 8:28. Shit. Two minutes to rush to class or else you’d be late. After grabbing your belongings from the car and clicking the locks twice, you jogged across the parking lot to the closest buildings on campus. Thankfully Physics was right there, so you didn’t have to worry too much.  
  
Inside the classroom, you set out your belongings and prepared for the weekly lab. This time, you were paired up with Arya and one of her friends. You were studying colors and the effects of polarization on different objects. Other than that, you pretty much zoned out.  
  
Not only was Flowey on your mind, but in turn so were the consequences of going back to the Underground. Another image flashed across your mind, where you and Sans had hardly stepped foot there before Flowey came after you. A shudder passed down your spine despite the uncomfortable warmth of the classroom. He’s not here. Sans has your back. Things are okay.  
  
The rest of the class passed in a blur. Literally, the colors you covered passed by in a blur because of how many there were in the lab. Some of the information vaguely stuck because you had already covered the subject in high school.  
  
In the half hour break between Physics and Economics you strolled to the middle of the campus to the student store. After the recent events, you thought a coffee treat was in order. On the way there, an audible crack sounded in the pavement aside of you.  
  
Just as you turned to face the source of the noise, Flowey’s head ducked under the ground. Your heart hammered against your chest. Better make that coffee a Rockstar. Energy drinks made you impossibly jittery, but you needed a source of distraction at this point. Badly.  
  
Wide eyed, you continued walking in the direction of the store. That wasn’t Flowey, you tried to convince yourself. Just an illusion.  
  
After buying the Rockstar, you headed over to the Economics building. The classroom was on the top floor, so you had a nice view of the center quad as you sat down by the window. A few other students filed in and soon enough, it was packed.  
  
You glanced around the room before the teacher entered, and noticed the guy in front of you sketching a picture. He had only drawn the face but already it began to remind you of the source of your ever increasing paranoia. Stop it, you told yourself as you concentrated on breathing. Focus on the class.  
  
It wasn’t even ten minutes into the lecture when you had already finished your drink and began impatiently shaking your leg up and down. As the teacher continued the lesson you tried to jot down notes, but barely managed to draw a picture here and there about the diagrams he covered. It was difficult to keep your interest at this stage. But, soon enough, the energizing effects wore down and you were back to being somewhat normal. You checked your watch. Still an hour left in class. You groaned mentally.  
  
Towards the last half hour, the teacher still hadn’t finished droning on about his lesson. With the burst of energy gone, you suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion rush over you. Not now, you thought. Just hold out a little longer…  
  
Your head nodded a bit until your eyes finally drooped and off you went.  
  
_____________________  
The first thing you noticed was the chalky white substance on your hands. What appeared to be dust had caked into the grooves of your skin from your hands, all the way to your elbows. The second thing you noticed? The emptiness around you. Piles of dust littered the floor in the otherwise lively area.  
  
You were in Snowdin Forest, or at least, what was left of it. There were no monsters left, that you could see. Just then, a cough resounded from below you.  
  
As you peered downward, your eyes widened in horror. Sans lay there, blood trickling from a deep gash in his chest. You completely threw the logic of whether or not skeletons could actually bleed out the window and crouched down to support him into a sitting position. Your mind was in a state of panic.  
  
“Sans? Sans! What happened? Please answer me.” You began shaking violently as tears ran down your cheeks and onto his wounds. His eye lights flickered and found your face.  
  
“_____. so you’re in there after all.” As he closed his eyes, his smile became slightly wider, but then fell. “i’m sorry i couldn’t protect you, kiddo.” The tears kept flowing.  
  
“Sans no. You can’t leave me. Please. please pleaseplease” A lone hand found your shirt and gripped it tightly for a second before falling to the ground beside him. His body became limp in your arms.  
  
Body racking sobs escaped you. No, this can’t be happening. He’s going to wake up. I didn’t do this…  
  
‘But you did.’ A familiar voice echoed in your mind. Flowey. ‘You killed him with your own hands. It was inevitable.’ No. No. no…  
  
You couldn’t let this happen.  
  
‘It will.’ Flowey’s laugh was soft, yet menacing. ‘Just wait and see.’  
  
________________________  
  
With a jolt, you shook yourself awake. Thankfully this was just as the teacher signaled the end of class, so there were no awkward transitions. You scrambled to pick up all of your belongings and nearly ran out the door.  
  
You needed some fresh air. After hopping into you car and driving for a short while, you reached the park. You had always stopped there when something bad happened. Double lock on the doors again and you were off into the woods.  
  
The park had large pine trees surrounding the edges, which looked more mysterious the further you traveled. Though today, the trees seemed to be judging you. Their menacing shadows crept along your back as you walked along. What the heck was going on here?  
  
You tried to rack your brain for an explanation, but none came. The only image you saw was of Sans as he died at your hand. You couldn't forget something like that so easily.  
  
That train of thought led you to Sans- the one you knew in this timeline. Though it sounded unreasonable at first, you began to consider the inevitability of Flowey taking over your body and killing everyone. Killing him.  
  
No. You shook your head. You couldn't let that happen. He deserved better than that. You hugged your arms out of nervousness and trudged along the last stretch of the path.  
  
Just then a cyclist from behind came too close too fast and before you knew it, you were face down on the ground. Thankfully you landed on something soft. When you opened your eyes, another wave of panic washed over you. It was a patch of yellow flowers.  
  
For a moment you closed your eyes, as if to try and wipe the image from your memory. But the whisper in your ear made it that much clearer.  
  
"You can't run forever."  
  
You sprinted back to the car as fast as you possibly could, not even taking the chance to look back.


	12. Dating Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are having a bad time and Sans tries to help you feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again guys!
> 
> I'm /really/ sorry about taking so long to post this chapter ): Things got pretty bad on my end and I lost the motivation to write up until yesterday. But I'm feeling a bit better so I should be able to post chapters a little closer together. Hope you enjoy it, this chapter's pretty long.
> 
> Thank you once again for reading!  
> (especially since we hit 500 views and almost 20 kudos woot !!)

Immediately afterward, you drove home and locked yourself in your room. You ran a hand over your face and bit at the tips of your nails out of habit. You can't do this. You pulled out your phone and texted Sans. 

2:31pm ____:  
Hey. Just got home from school.  
2:32pm [Sans]:  
cool. we’re over at undyne’s house hanging out. ready for later?

You stopped and swallowed hard. 

2:37pm _____:  
About that. Don't think I can make it. Bad day. 

He responded almost immediately. 

2:37pm [Sans]:  
are you okay?

You sighed. 

2:38pm _____:  
Peachy.  
2:38pm [Sans]:  
really. i can come home if you want.  
2:40pm _____:  
No. It's fine. Enjoy your time with Undyne.  
2:41pm [Sans]:  
if you say so. we’ll be home around 5 okay?  
2:42pm _____:  
Okay. See you then. 

You slid down the side of the door, eyes closed. The intense stress reminded you of the bouts from before you had almost managed to escape. Almost. You slowly and somewhat shakily stood up and laid out on the bed. You held the spare pillow to your chest, the top covering your face. When in doubt, the best known medicine was sleep.  
  
You woke up with a pounding headache. Dehydration was the worst. You groaned and blindly groped the side table for a bottle of water. No dice. You guessed the next best thing to do was to get up and wash your face. Slowly but surely, you receded back into your old habits of dealing with depression.  
  
With the lack of energy you barely had enough strength to make it to the bathroom, let alone close the door to secure privacy. You stared at the water as it rushed out of the faucet. It was too loud. You splashed the cold water in your face and thoroughly dried it before closing the tap. In the mirror, your reflection stared blankly back at you. You pushed the corners of your mouth up in a forced smile. It felt wrong. You felt wrong. A shiver ran down your spine, but you didn't turn around.  
  
“yikes. when you said you were having a bad day, i didn't realize you meant this bad.” You leaned over the sink and closed your eyes. Not enough energy to move your mouth and reply. He tried again.  
  
“anything i can do?” You felt his hand on your shoulder but you shrugged him off. You sank to the floor and tucked your knees in to hide your face.  
  
“please at least tell me you at least ate something.” You shook your head. “now that won't do. c’mon, you have to eat something.” You sank deeper into yourself. “i know something that'll cheer you up. i was originally going to call it a date, but now we need to focus more on getting something in you.” Mentioning his dinner plans struck a chord. Your head shot up. He still wanted to go to the underground.  
  
“I- I don't think- Is it really safe to go back there?” Your voice was small and cracked. Sans sat down Indian-style to be eye level with you. He placed a hand on your arm for reassurance.  
  
“is that what this is about?” You diverted your eyes to the cabinet and sighed. “hey.” You locked eyes. “if there’s something going on that you're concerned about, don't worry. i'll protect you.” Tears gather at the corner of your eyes, threatening to spill over.  
  
“ah, crap. please don’t cry.” Too late. Hot streaks running down your cheek were met by the smoothness of his fingertips. He pulled you into his chest, bony legs on either side of your frame. You leaned in, not able to do much else. The waterworks kept coming.  
  
Sans was patient. He didn’t entirely understand what was going on, but whatever it was, you definitely needed the support. His free hand shifted from rubbing your back soothingly to massaging the back of your head. The motion began to calm you down, once again creating a sleepy sensation.  
  
Just before you lost consciousness again, Sans re-positioned you so that he could see your face. You were still reluctant to directly look at him. He seemed to understand and cleared his throat.  
  
“i know you're having a bad time here, but it would be a good idea to grab some food, alright?” He studied your face for a reaction, anything at all. You considered this for a moment, the negative thoughts receding enough for you to nod in reply.  
  
Sans smiled and ruffled your hair. He stood up, deliberately making sure not to jostle you. Soon enough the two of you stood at full heights in front of the sink. He offered his hand to you and you took it. You breathed in deeply as he gave your hand a quick squeeze, then the two of you headed into the rest of the house to make preparations for dinner.  
  
____________________  
  
After about half an hour of getting dressed and trying to mentally push yourself to go through with this you were finally ready to go. Sans told you he had found a restaurant in town you two could go to for dinner. Papyrus had already made and eaten his spaghetti, and was seated on the couch staring intently at the TV. You and Sans waved goodbye, explaining you would be back later.  
  
You strolled up to a quaint looking restaurant- small and familial, yet modern and appealing. There were tables arranged on a patio along the outside of the building. A bench lined one of the windowed walls, partially hidden behind a glass fireplace.  
  
The sun was setting and it wasn't particularly cold, so when Sans asked if you would prefer an inside or outside seat, you decided to be outside. His smile grew when you chose to sit at a table close to the fireplace. A part of you wondered if he knew that would happen.  
  
Soon enough, you had scrutinized over your options for food and chosen meals respectively- a BLT for you and a hot dog for Sans. You couldn't help but laugh at the waiter’s confusion when he asked for a hot cat the first time around.  
  
Quite a few food puns later, the meals were ready and you dug in. Sans didn't seem to do much with his hot dog at first, but after poking at it with the fork for a good five minutes, he finally picked it up and took a bite. Your own chewing slowed as you studied the skeleton sitting at the other end of the table. You hadn’t seen him eat anything until now, how did that work? He noticed you staring and gave a short, nervous laugh.  
  
“something on your mind?” He asked, amused.  
  
“Still can't get over how you do that.” You said, smiling slightly. He stuck his tongue out at you and you returned the gesture. “You're so weird.”  
  
“look who’s talking.” You rolled your eyes and pushed your plate in, finally finished eating. Sans jabbed a finger towards the couch behind him.  
  
“want to go sit over there where it’s warmer?” The night air was beginning to settle and you could feel a slight chill raising the hair on your arms. You chided yourself for only wearing a tee shirt instead of the usual hoodie. You nodded.  
  
The couch was comfortable. The leather seats were smooth and cool, which complimented the dancing ferocity of the fire. Sans was close, but left just a bit enough gap between you two. His heat was added to the mix as well.  
  
The soothing atmosphere allowed your mind to wander. Unfortunately out of habit, that meant it went to dark places. Specifically, it went to Flowey. You tried to get him out of your head, to force him to stop, but to no avail.  
  
On the other end, Sans curiously examined your reactions. You were obviously deep in thought; your eyes hadn't left the center of the fireplace an for almost an entire minute. He waved a hand in front of your line of sight and tried to get your attention.  
  
You blinked a few times and came back to reality. Sans cocked his head off to the side, slightly concerned. You smiled quickly to reassure him. He shrugged.  
  
“i got us something special for dessert.” You raised your eyebrows.  
  
“Sounds fun. What did you get?”  
  
“it’s a secret. you'll have to wait.” You rolled your eyes again and thus began the waiting game. Finally after about ten minutes, a female waiter with a kind smile handed you each a mug filled with a warm, brown liquid inside. Whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, and cinnamon shavings decorated the top. Hot chocolate. You smiled to yourself and took a sip. Too hot. While waiting for it to cool, you had become enveloped in your surroundings.  
  
Jazz music played softly from the speakers positioned above your head. By this time, the sky had turned a dark blue, almost black. The first stars of the evening blinked to life. As you drank more of the hot chocolate, its richness and warmth penetrated the negative feelings inside of you, seeping into your SOUL…  
  
"can i ask you something?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"what made you so upset earlier?" You hesitated and swallowed hard, not wanting to worry him. Your resolve quickly changed when you recognized the concern in his eyes. He gave your leg a reassuring pat.  
  
“It’s Flowey.” He stopped.  
  
“what."  
  
“I had a bad dream about Flowey and he said he was coming for me and I was so scared. I didn't want you to worry about me but things got worse and now Flowey is showing me these visions…” You falter, a sob hitching in your throat. Sans’s expression seemed to press you for more. “I-I just did some bad things. Really bad things.” Your fingers found the hem of your shirt. It was then when you realized just how cold it was, and shivered. Sans had been practically frozen in place until you finished talking.  
  
He paused for a moment, then gave you a firm hug. It was comforting. You shuddered again.  
  
“you’re not a bad person, kiddo.”  
  
“B-but.. I killed you…” Your voice cracked. He sat back to look you in the eye, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. He took a deep breath and settled into the couch, an arm laid across the back of it- just above your shoulders.  
  
“mettaton was right. i shouldn’t have taken you down to the underground.” You had a sudden burst of energy and tried to defend what happened that day.  
  
“No! It’s okay. I-I had a fun time down there. Not just the food and atmosphere but-” You stopped yourself when you realized where that thought was going. He raised an eyebrow and you turned away, a faint blush growing across your face.  
  
“oh.” He commented when he realized what you were referring to. He draped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you into a side hug. Once again, your body shuddered. (Whether is was out of nervousness or cold, you couldn’t tell). “you okay?” He asked.  
  
“Peachy.”  
  
“ha. ha. no, really. you’ve been shivering. you cold?”  
  
“Nope.” Right on cue, you sneezed. Sans snickered and you shoved him with your shoulder. You sighed and turned up to face the string of lights overhead. Multitudes of stars had broken through the dark atmospheric veil. You wondered how long you two had been out there. It didn’t feel like that much time had passed.  
  
Suddenly a jacket was draped over your shoulders. Its inner fur retained Sans’s warmth (which continued to amaze you), as well as a hint of his scent. You noted some sort of cologne, with a slight hint of ketchup. Your face flushed further, and Sans laughed again.  
  
A pang resounded in your chest. Why were you doing this to yourself? Sans was in danger, you were in danger. There was no time for… whatever this was. You didn’t want to be near him if Flowey actually…  
  
“feeling any better?” He asked. You manage a weak smile, heartbeat fluttering. Damn these conflicting feelings.  
  
“Yeah, thank you. The jacket’s nice and warm.” Now it was his turn to blush, the glow faintly apparent on his cheeks.  
  
“just want to make sure you’re not chilled to the bone or anything.”  
  
“Oh my god, Sans.” He snickered.  
  
There was a moment’s pause, where everything seemed alright. It was almost soothing. Unfortunately, you couldn’t keep your mouth shut.  
  
“Sans?”  
  
“hm?” You took a deep breath.  
  
I don’t know if I can keep this up.” You stated shakily.  
  
“____?”  
  
“I-I…” Why did you have to ruin such an amazing moment? “A-after what I saw in my dreams, I’m not sure it’s safe to be around me.” Your voice cracked. “I don’t want to hurt you. It’s not fair to be selfish like this so-” Sans cut you off by pushing his bone against your lips. Your thoughts were derailed, and for a second it felt like you could actually breathe. (What were you talking about again?) When he finally pulled away, you had to blink a few times to situate yourself.  
  
"i’m sorry i cut you off. it’s just…” He took a deep breath.  
  
You messed up. Here it comes.  
  
“i don’t want to lose you. not again. not to that weed. he’s trying to mess with you, those visions aren’t real.” A bony hand found its way under your chin and brought your face to look at him.  
  
“i’m here, you’re here. we’re okay.” You pulled away to break the seriousness, taking another sip of your no longer hot hot chocolate. Sans’s tone shifted as he began again.  
  
“though since-” He hesitated to say the name at first. “-flowey is the main concern here, we do need to set up some precautions. for starters, no more trips to the underground.” You snapped your fingers dramatically.  
  
“Darn. I was really hoping we could stop by and have a friendly chat with him.” Sans’s eye lights rolled in their sockets.  
  
“sarcasm aside, it’s off the list.” You shrugged. “second, you should probably get some training in- with your soul, I mean. when’s your next free day?”  
  
“Friday. I have class up until then.” You huffed.  
  
“okay. that’s settled, then.” He paused. “as for this… maybe we should hold off until you’re feeling better.” Something gnawed a pit in your stomach. You wanted to be with Sans, but you didn’t want to lose him if something went wrong. And yet…  
  
“Can I ask you something first?”  
  
“sure, what?”  
  
“Do you like me?” You could tangibly feel the tension in the air. Sans took a moment to collect his thoughts.  
  
“of course i do, _____. ever since i met you in the underground that first time…” He trailed off. “i wanted to be with you, without a doubt. you’re important to me, kiddo.” Once again, your heart hammered in your chest. He cared about you this much, the least you could do was acknowledge how you felt as well.  
  
“Then I guess we’re okay.” You smiled gently and leaned into his shoulder. His body tensed up for a second, then he loosened up and wrapped an arm around your side.  
  
“_____?” You pulled the jacket closer around you and covered half of your face with the fur from the hood.  
  
“I know I need to get through this, that’s pretty obvious. And I don’t want to lose you because of some incident-” You paused, pushing the thought away. “But for now, I think we’re okay. A-as long as you don’t mind me as a mess like this.” You pulled the hood up to cover your face entirely. San’s laughter was light and sincere next to you ear. He peeled the jacket away enough so he could kiss your forehead.  
  
“i don’t mind at all. besides, i’d be bonely without you.” You snickered.  
  
“Yeah. I’d miss you a skele-ton too.”  
  
“horrible puns and all?”  
  
“Amazingly horrible puns and all.”  
  
_____________________________  
  
The two of you continued to talk until the restaurant closed down for the night. Until then, you didn't realize how tired you were. You walked a little slower than usual. It took a while to get home, and as soon as you did, you headed straight to bed.  
  
Papyrus was snoring softly from the spare bedroom, so you and Sans kept as quiet as possible. You flopped down on the bed and soon after, Sans followed suit. You turned to face him.  
  
“goodnight vertibae.” He said softly. You mumbled a reply.  
  
“Goodnight Sans.”


	13. Road to Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the bouts of intense stress, you need some time to get back to feeling normal. Or at least, somewhat normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> For those who missed the update (I deleted it), basically I lost my motivation to write for a while and that's why this is such a late continuation. Sorry.. Otherwise thank you for 750+ views and 25 kudos! n(/ω\\)n
> 
> (btw I saw the homestuck upd8 and I'm still on the adrenaline rush from it ahah....... That's why I'm still up at 3 a.m.) 
> 
> One last thing before I go: there are a lot of puns in this chapter. Be prepared :3

It was a struggle to get up the following morning. You were groggy, and your eyelids felt weighted down as if an invisible force were compelling you to sleep more. It took a moment to adjust to the sunlight streaming through your small bedroom window. 

A look to your left told you it was only 7 a.m. Way too early to get up and prepare for the day’s classes. That, and after yesterday you felt exhausted- both mentally and physically. You steadied your breathing to relish the stillness of the room in the early morning light. It was quiet. Almost too quiet.

Wait. Sans usually snored when he slept. Did that mean he was actually…?

“Sans?” Your voice was quiet, especially in comparison to the pounding of blood in your ears. No doubt you were awake now. There was a moment’s pause before you heard him clear his throat.

“mornin’ _____.” You released a breath you didn’t realize you were holding as his arms wrapped around your stomach. For a moment you were distracted, unintentionally focusing on how his ribs rose and fell softly against your back. He shifted slightly, the brush of bone against skin causing you to regain your senses.

“M-morning.” A flushed feeling spread across your cheeks. You scrunched your nose out of habit to make the sensation go away. Sans picked up on the movement and gave your middle a squeeze.

“something the matter?” His voice rumbled, low and soft against your ear. A boney finger lazily traced along your side. As he reached your ribs, you elicited an involuntary shiver. He chuckled.

“Still recovering from yesterday.” You trailed off, biting your bottom lip. Sans’s hand stopped short, resting just above your hip before he raised it to scratch his head.

“shoot. sorry, am i making you uncomfortable?” You paused to consider his words, then reached back to secure his hand within your own. A startled sound escaped him as you positioned your joined hands against your cheek. Miraculously, despite how hot your cheeks felt, his hand was still warm against your skin.

“I didn’t mean it like that, you’re fine. I meant yesterday in general. A lot of stuff went down, y’know?” He didn’t respond. “Just give me a few days and I should be relatively back to normal.”

“you sure?” He squeezed your hand as reassurance, gentle yet firm. You returned the gesture.

“I’m sure.” You smiled as he nuzzled his face into the base of your neck. It fell slightly as you considered the next thought. “Though, I have to ask…”

“shoot.” His voice was muffled, but you could feel the reverberations against your skin. You took a deep breath.

“What are we?” You asked. For a split second his figure tensed, causing his hold on you to loosen.

“what do you want us to be?” His voice grew quieter, then he cleared his throat. He was clearly nervous. You were too. How to word this… You thought silently as you shrugged.

“I’m not sure. I like how things are now, but at the same time I’m scared shitless of losing you.” He tranced your jawline, then rested his hand over your heart.

“you make it sound like i haven’t been thinking the same thing.” Your heart skipped a beat.

“What do you mean?” Why would he be worried about you?

“we talked about it earlier. the resets. as happy as i am we’ve made it this far, it’s still not certain… there’s still a chance i could lose all of this.” He paused and you felt him shuddering. “you mean so much to me _____.” Sans swallowed, his voice thick. A nauseous sensation washed over you as the conversation suddenly shifted. 

You pushed yourself away momentarily to readjust positions. Before Sans could register what happened, you had flipped over to face him, regaining a hold on his hands. They trembled slightly. Your eyes met, his eye lights glowed softly in the dim light of the room. His mouth formed a smile, but it didn’t look sincere. Merely a cover to mask what he was truly thinking. The orbs shifted to the sheets as you raised a hand to his cheek. Your thumb ran back and forth, stroking the smooth surface of his face.

“Sans, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to- I didn’t realize… “He toyed with a strand of your hair so he wouldn’t have to look you in the eyes. Not yet.

“it’s fine. i'm sorry for bringing that up. you don’t need to worry about me.” You smiled weakly.

“Too late.” The lights rolled in their sockets, but he smiled nonetheless. You placed a hand under his chin so he would look at you. He was met with a gentle smile.

“We’ll find out what’s up with the timeline. It’ll be okay.”

“man i hope you’re right.”

“Won’t know until we try.” He covered your hand with his own.

“sounds like a plan.”

In that moment of acceptance, a thought occurred to you. The whole reason why you wanted to research the timelines was because you intended to go back, back to the original timeline you came from. But now, here, you were happy. Sure there was the impending threat of monsters trying to kill you, but at least you had friends to help you along the way. Was it really necessary for you to keep going at this point?

Yes, it was. Even if you didn’t go back to the original timeline, you could still create security within this one. Sans was right. Even if you had made it this far, there was still the looming threat of something- or someone- holding the power to take everything away from you in an instant. It was worth looking into. 

You checked the clock again- 7:15 a.m.- and huffed out of frustration.

“you okay?” Sans asked. His voice had suddenly become saturated with sleep. 

“It’s too late to fall asleep again, but too early to get up and prep for the day.” You groaned and turned to bury your face into the pillow. A boney hand found its way to the back of your scalp. Sans began his massage, causing you to hum and sink lower into the bed. Guess that answered that question. 

The two of you remained like that until your alarm went off at 8:00 a.m. You sighed and picked yourself up from the pocket of warmth the two of you had created. As you stretched out, Sans’s eye lights followed you. Another question bubbled at the back of your mind. You blurted it out without even thinking.

“Do you want to go out?” Sans blinked.

“i thought you had school today but, uh, what place did you have in mind?”

“N-no. I- I mean like, dating.” You clarified nervously. A light blue blush spread across his cheekbones as he laughed heartily at your comment. Your heart fluttered anxiously as he took a second to calm down. 

“i’m sorry for laughing. it’s just, you don’t have to be nervous, i won’t bite.” He propped himself up on one arm and waggled his eyebrows. ‘unless, y’know, you’re into that.” You groaned and rolled your eyes.

“Ha. Ha. You didn’t answer my question.” His free hand made its way to his chin, creating a contemplative appearance. He spoke after a second of mock consideration. 

“yes i would love to.” You smiled.

“Awesome.” Glad you had clarified that at least, you strode over to the closet to choose an outfit for the day. Meanwhile Sans was still in the room, lounging in bed. Or so you thought.

A shiver ran down your spine a split second before you felt Sans place his hands on your waist. He turned you around swiftly to face him. His hands found the back of your head and pulled you down slightly so his bone pressed against your lips. It was a brief peck, but your head still spun at the sudden turn of events. 

“What-”

“i had to do that before you kicked me out.” You stood there unable to speak for a moment, as your face grew uncomfortably warm. Then the feeling subsided, replaced with slight frustration mixed with embarrassment.

“You’re such a dork.” You said as you shoved him towards the door. “I'll be out in a bit.”

“okay then vertibae.” He shut the door behind him, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Sans’s grin was infectious- you couldn’t stop smiling. It’s official, you thought as you rummaged through the closet. After grabbing a black tee shirt and faded grey jeans, you pulled on some sneakers and mentally prepared yourself for the rest of the day. It would seem your life was just full of surprises.

__________________________________

By the time you made it to the kitchen, Papyrus was pouring a bowl of- oh. Cereal, not spaghetti. You poured yourself a bowl as well, scarfing it down before saluting a goodbye to the brothers and dashing out the door.

The day flew by more quickly than you anticipated. Math, you finished most of the work in class, so you were in good standing. Psych was, well, Psych. And for English, you were reminded of the essay that was due a few weeks later. You make a mental note to start that later in the afternoon.

In between classes, you decided to grab lunch with Arya again. A wave of exhaustion washed through you as it usually did about that time, but you mustered up enough energy to strike up a conversation. Regardless, she picked up on your mood and adapted accordingly. Arya brought you a salad and made sure you ate all of it, so that she knew you had something in you. It was times like these that you didn’t feel like eating, so you were glad she motivated you to do so anyway.

At some point, you brought up the previous night’s dinner. Arya sat on the edge of her seat in anticipation. You laughed nervously and fidgeted with your shirt as you explained what happened. Most of it was centered around the atmosphere. If you delved too much into the conversation you might slip up and say something about Flowey, or maybe even the timelines. You figured it would be better not to mention that more dangerous aspects of your life. She was concerned enough already, no need to exacerbate the situation. 

Arya seemed excited to hear things were going well for you two. And of course, she had to press you for more details. 

“So then, did you get any action afterwards? Did you rattle his bones?” She waggled her eyebrows up and down. You covered your face with a hand in an attempt not to laugh. Needless to say, it didn’t work out that way.

“What? No.”

“No boning the skeleton? Don’t you want to jump his bones?”

“Dude, stop. You’re killing me. What’s with all these puns? Have you been hanging around Sans too?”

“I may have picked up a fe(w)-mur puns than usual.” She admitted with a grin. You groaned.

“Oh my god.” You broke down laughing as Arya winked and stuck out her tongue.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Just messing with you, ya dork.”

__________________________________

Once at home, you cracked down on your homework. Your motivation was practically nonexistent at that point, but you the need to begin your essay filled you with DETERMINATION.

Three hour and a few distractions later, you had created an outline for the 30 page paper. You groaned and shoved the papers aside. That was enough work for the day. 

A dull ache throbbed in the back of your skull. You hadn’t taken anything to drink in over eight hours. That, coupled with intense focus and already present fatigue and there you have it- the start of a headache. Like you’ve said before, dehydration was the worst.

You strode into the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge and some motrin from the drawer. After a couple of gulps, you screwed the caps back on tightly and made you way to the living room. 

Sans and Papyrus were stationed at either end of the couch. As usual, the two brothers were tuned into the television. Instead of the ever entertaining (sarcasm, hah) MTT Brand programs, someone had popped in a movie- the new version of Tron. You grinned and plopped down in the middle, creating a sandwich out of the three of you. A few minutes passed, then Sans found your hand and wove your fingers together.

“so how did your day go?” He asked, eyes shifting from the screen to you. You shrugged.

“It was alright. I’m just super tired.” His thumb rubbed against the back of your hand soothingly.

“you heading in early tonight?”

“Yeah. Though I need to finish this water or else I'll be really bad off. Might as well stick around and watch the movie with you guys for now.” And so you did. About an hour and a half later the movie concluded, and you tapped your foot in time with the end credits song. It had taken a while, but your headache finally subsided. 

Before begrudgingly picking yourself off the couch, you nudged Sans and told him goodnight. Even with your sluggish movements, blood rushed to your head and caused the world to spin. Sans jumped up to steady you as you spent a minute or two regaining your balance. You thanked him and stretched, discovering a dull ache in your shoulder blade. As you rolled them up and down, the pain grew steadily. You turned to Sans, wincing a little. 

“On second thought, do you mind if I ask for a favor before bed?” 

“uh.” A blush began to glow faintly. 

“Shit. I-I didn't mean for it to sound weird! Augh. I mean- would it be too much to ask for a massage?” By the time you finished, Sans had already begun snickering. It seemed like he enjoyed it when you became embarrassed. Regardless, he cooled down and shrugged. 

“sure, i don't see why not.” You smiled, though still nursing your sore shoulders, and lead the way back to the bedroom. 

Your room was still a mess from the essay outlining endeavour. Papers were tossed into the nearest folder, laptop was secured in the bag dangling off the back of your chair, socks were balled up and tossed in the hamper… It was amazing how quickly your room became messy. You had to keep a closer watch on that. 

With everything finally cleared and out of the way, you flopped down face down on the bed. You took a deep breath, then remembered Sans was still leaning against the doorframe, waiting for you to finish. A quick glance told you he found it amusing nonetheless. 

You groaned at his widening grin, becoming embarrassed and burying your face further into the comforter. A few quick steps and he has by your side. His phalanges traced from your skull, then down your spine. A chill ran through you, causing you to look up and scrunch your nose in protest. Sans grinned and shrugged. 

“so the massage…?”

“Right.” You shifted to lay across the length of the bed. “Is this okay?” He cleared his throat. 

“yeah. no problem.” He hesitantly climbed onto the bed, seating himself on your rear. You silently wondered why he was so careful- it wasn't like he weighed a skele-ton (ah.. haha..)or anything. “any particular place you're after?” The ache in your shoulder flared up again, briefly. 

“Ah, my shoulders, please.” Sans nodded and went to work. You laid flat on your arms as he kneaded your blades thoroughly. He began softly at first, but when you told him not to hold back he really dug in there. Within no time your shoulders began to ache again, this time a more pleasant type of soreness. You could only release so much tension in one area at a time. 

You shifted your shoulders and asked Sans to go a little lower. He worked his way down to your mid back, slowly but surely. His fingers worked their magic, digging and rubbing in circles and shifting the muscles from side to side. You hummed, content. The more he massaged, the more relaxed you became. After about ten minutes of the session you were just about ready to fall asleep. Sans picked up on that and slowed down to trace across your blades. 

“how’re you doing, want me to stop?” You laughed sleepily. 

“Tired, but holding up. Maybe a little more, then we can call it a night.” Sans hummed affirmatively. You couldn't see him from this angle, but you would bet he was smiling. Genuinely. 

As Sans started up again, you noticed the lower part of your back begin to tense up. His grasp was firm on your middle, but he hadn't gone below that point. You figured he might be nervous, but with how tired you were, you could care less about implications. . 

“Could you go a little lower, please?” You voice came out softer than anticipated. Thankfully he still heard it. His hands traveled downward slightly but not quite…

“Little more. Little more. Right th-” A pleasant hum escaped you as he hit a sweet spot. You sank further into the bed, relaxing more than you had in such a long time.

After the first few strokes and your immediate reaction, Sans was startled and stopped short. It took a moment for him to realize you were humming in content, not groaning in pain. Once he figured that out, he chuckled softly and continued to dig firmly into the small of your back. 

The more he massaged, the more conflicted your thoughts became. You involuntarily hummed each time he tapped your sweet spot, but it became increasingly embarrassing because of how it sounded. A few rounds in, you attempted to cover your mouth by laying face down on the bed. The sound was muffled, but what worried you even more was how it suddenly became hard to breath. Each intake was shallow, making it even more difficult to stay awake. 

As much as you wanted to continue, you decided it was probably best to stop there before you actually fell asleep. Out of lack of energy, you tapped the bed by your sides to grab his attention. Sans stopped abruptly, his hands resting on the sides of your stomach. 

“I think I'm done for the night. Really… really tired right now.” You laughed weakly. “Thank you, so much, for this.” Sans squeezed your sides softly. 

“glad you liked it.” The two of you remained in that position for a moment before he cleared his throat. “anything else you need?” You couldn't think straight. There wasn't anything else. You shook your head slowly. 

“ ‘m okay.” You let out a sigh and began to doze off. At least, until Sans wrapped his arms around your middle and rolled you over to the side. The surprise woke you up for a split second, but as soon as his forehead met yours, his hands resting against your back, the dregs of sleep dragged you dangerously close to the edge once again. Just before you gave in, you shifted just enough to plant a kiss on his teeth. 

When you pulled away, his grin grew even wider. You nestled your head between his and the blue hoodie he always wore. Sans ran his fingers through your hair, causing you to sink in even further. 

“goodnight _____.” He said, softly. The last thing you remember was him planting another kiss upon your forehead, before you finally succumbed to the temptation of slumber.


	14. Unnecessary Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You had barely worked on your paper and it is due tomorrow. Tired and stressed, the skeleton bros come to the rescue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone. (I'm back from the dead)  
> I want to apologize for such the large gap between chapters (even though I'll probably be doing that a lot more often, to be honest). Life has been busy with graduation, and some stressful events over summer, etc etc, stuff happens.  
> Speaking of stuff happening the event at the end of the chapter with Sans actually happened with me today, and in turn prompted me to stay up until almost 2:30am to write this. Wasn't feeling too great the past couple days, but I got some help and am feeling a lot better now (enough to even write this, yay).  
> ((Side note: when Arya and Jayce are mentioned, Arya is the reader's female best friend, and Jayce is the male best friend.  
> Anyway, without further aduie, enjoy~

About a week passed before you considered yourself “back to normal”. You could get yourself out of bed just fine, made sure to prepare lunch beforehand so you wouldn’t have to feel guilty every time Arya bought one for you, and completed most of your homework. And by most of, you meant everything except the stupid essay you had to write. That was due the next day.

Of course you had finished the outline previously, and in one of your more lucid moments, produced a half-decent rough draft, but you still had plenty of revising to do before it even came close to turning it in. Usually the quality of the paper didn’t affect you that greatly. Then again, the other papers didn’t constitute a large portion of your grade either. You found yourself trapped between a rock and a hard piece of paper.

After the day’s classes you dropped everything but your bag at the front door. The shoes went flying, askew, into their usual place, but the jacket dropped to the floor when you tossed it towards the coat rack. You sighed deeply, but continued the trek to your room. You were already tired from the work you already completed in class, but you were filled with dread considering the load you had ahead of you.

On the way to your room, you glanced toward the living room and found the skeleton brothers in their natural habitat. Sans was half watching the television, half sleeping, with his slippered feet resting on his brother’s lap. Meanwhile Papyrus flicked the channels, seemingly unable to find something interesting on. Papyrus sighed and finally settled on a cooking show, an episode of cake boss you recognized as a rerun. You ran a hand through your hair and made a rapping motion with your knuckles.

“Hey guys, I’m home.” The skeletons perked up at the sound of your voice (as if the loud slam of the door wasn’t enough to alert them). Papyrus turned around on the couch to greet you, nearly toppling Sans over in the process.

“GREETINGS HUMAN! WAS YOUR DAY VERY EVENTFUL?” You laughed lightly and glanced off to the side.

“Well I’ve done a lot of school related work, if that could be considered eventful.. And I just thought I’d say hi before I stow myself away in my room for the next eight hours or so.” You shrugged, not thinking much of the casual sarcasm. However, it didn’t blow over as well as you thought it would with the tall skeleton. He stood up immediately and grabbed hold of your hands within his. A loud thump and ‘oomph’ sounded as Sans actually did fall onto the floor this time.

“HUMAN I DO NOT THINK THAT IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA TO WORK FOR THAT LONG. SURELY YOU ARE EXAGGERATING?” His eye (bones?) raised in concern, actually hoping you didn’t mean what you said. You almost forgot things were different in the Undergound, and they probably didn’t have situations like that in the educational system. You sighed and rubbed his bony fingers with your thumb.

“Pap, it’s fine. It’s not too uncommon for people to work for this long on homework. Yeah, it’s a pain in the butt, but I’ve done it before.” You squeezed his hands reassuringly. “I’ll be alright, okay?” You glanced down at your hands and sighed again. “Thank you for the concern though.” He smiled brightly as you slowly glanced back up.

“THINK NOTHING OF IT, HUMAN. IT IS THE LEAST I CAN DO FOR A CLOSE FRIEND OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He jumped up onto the couch, one hand raised above his head while the other still held onto yours. “BUT IF YOU TRULY WILL BE WORKING FOR SUCH A LONG DURATION, AT LEAST LET ME PROVIDE SNACKS SO THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO FUNCTION IN TOP CONDITION.” You laughed a little to yourself, unsure as to how that could be true, but smiled anyway.

“Thank you again Papyrus, but you don’t need-“ He cut you off mid-sentence.

“MAYBE SO, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HELP OUT IF I CAN.” The eagerness in his face was something you couldn’t just say no to. “PLEASE.” You caved in.

“Alright, if you want.” Both hands shot up to cover his cheeks.

“WOWIE! I MUST GET STARTED THEN!” He scaled the couch (what is it with Papyrus and parkour?) and started rummaging around in the kitchen for ingredients. You cringed a little, hearing he clang of the pots and pans.

“Just… don’t make too much of a mess. Please…” The thought of you having to do a load of dishes after writing your essay made you internally weep. But Papyrus smiled from across the bar nonetheless.

“DO NOT WORRY. I WILL HAVE SANS ASSIST ME WITH THE DISHES. YOU CAN JUST FOCUS ON THE WORK YOU HAVE TO DO.” You smiled slightly, a bit embarrassed at his enthusiasm to help. And then it hit you. Sans was still on the floor.

“Ohmigod Sans!” You leaned over the couch to observe the floor, which was partially hidden by a sprawled, face down skeleton. Since you couldn’t reach him from that angle, you ran around to the front and rolled him onto his back. He groaned.

“nice of you to carpet-diem, right? i’ve only been down here for the last 20 minutes.” You rolled your eyes at his pun and hoisted him up so an arm reached around your shoulder. He patted your arm with his other hand and grabbed the couch to hold himself steady. You let go and he had absolutely no problem standing up. Then why did he just lay on the floor like that??

As if he had read your mind, he shrugged and whispered. “don’t worry about me, i was just a little worn out.” You smiled and stuck your tongue out at him as he moved to join Papyrus in the kitchen. He glanced up at you one more time before grabbing something from the fridge. “go on. you have some work to do.”

You tossed your backpack onto your bed and shut the door to muffle the sound of the skeleton brothers making the snacks in the other room. You smiled to yourself, glad to have such kind friends looking out for you. Of course Arya and Jayce helped a lot as well, but having roommates make food for you felt a bit more endearing. But of course, the more pressing matter was not food, but the homework you needed to start. Badly.

_____________________________________________________

6:00pm

You took a deep breath and observed the various papers scattered across your already cluttered desk. Math worksheet and textbook, laptop, outline, copies of the rough draft… Even though it was a no-brainer, you still took a moment to decide which portion of homework you would start on first. The essay was still the worst item on your list, so you decided to put that off until later and work on math instead.

7:30pm

Man did you hate math. It wasn’t too difficult, once you checked your notes a couple of times (and also the back of the book), but it took up a lot of time. You had to make sure you showed all of your work for each problem, which usually wasn’t too bad. What sucked was how showing work for a problem, meant taking up a third of the page in the process. And there were a lot of problems.

8:15pm

Math was finally done! Oh wait there’s an essay to do, shit.

8:30pm

You stared at the table for a while before a knock at the door brought you to your senses. You yawned and rubbed the sleep from your eyes before getting up to open it up.

The door swung open, revealing Papyrus grinning from (uh?) ear to ear, carrying half a dozen trays of food. Your chin dropped, worried because you couldn’t even come close to eating all this food. Regardless, Papyrus stepped past you and began to arrange the trays across your bed. A hand somehow found its way to cover your mouth, as you continued to gaze upon the spectacle.

The trays seemed to be in sets of twos. Two trays held an assortment of cookies (upon closer inspection, you found out they were chocolate chip and snickerdoodle), two more held a large plate of popato chisps accompanied by some dip, and the last two held a few rainbow colored drinks with star decorations in them. You couldn’t quite place it…

“Papyrus, what are those drinks called?” You asked, still in shock over how much he brought for you to snack on.

“STARFAITS. THEY ARE USUALLY ONLY SOLD AT THE MTT RESORT, BUT SINCE I AM CLOSE FRIENDS WITH METTATON, HE GAVE ME THE RECIPE ON HOW TO MAKE THEM. SANS SAID YOU HAD NEVER TRIED ONE BEFORE SO I THOUGHT IT MAY BE NICE TO GIVE YOU ONE NOW.” Right. You vaguely remember the description of the Starfait from the game, but not enough to know what it would do.

“Sounds cool. Thank you so much… For all of this.” A light orange began to spread across his cheekbones.

“IT IS THE LEAST I CAN DO, FRIEND.” He placed a hand on the door as he turned to exit the room. “OH, AND I REALIZE THIS IS A LOT OF FOOD FOR ONE HUMAN TO EAT, SO DO NOT FEEL LIKE YOU MUST EAT ALL OF IT. I UNDERSTAND.” You nodded and smiled.

“Thanks again Papyrus.” He grinned widely before saying ‘NYEH HEH HEH!’ and closing the door behind him. Which now left you alone with your ~~work~~ food.

9:15pm

Oh my god everything is so good. You started with the saltiness of the popato chisps, munching on them as you wrote in tidbits you had missed when first writing the rough draft. After you had made a decent sized dent in the chips, you moved on to the cookies.

Snickerdoodle was one of your favorite flavors. A part of you wondered how they knew that, but then you realized you probably told him at some point, and had just forgotten about it. You don’t know how, but the cookies seemed to taste even better than usual. Somehow they had managed to stay warm this whole time, so as soon as you bit into it, the heat spread across your tongue and throughout your mouth. The edges were slightly crispy, with a softer, more buttery center. Needless to say, you mowed through half the cookies in no time.

Your essay on the other hand….

9:45pm

You had written some more for your draft, enough to add two more pages to it. 14 pages in total, wooh… Your hand started to cramp, so you began massaging it slowly. In the meantime, the starfait caught your attention.

Papyrus seemed so sure that you would enjoy it, even Sans had suggested it, so you shrugged and decided to give it a go. You picked up the colorful drink and took a small sip from the straw. Instantly, your taste buds were swimming in a burst of fruity flavors. From what you could pick out, there was mango, strawberry, pineapple, and a hint of coconut. Simultaneously, you felt a tingly sensation course through your entire body. You jumped up, suddenly gaining a burst in energy, and landed back at your desk, actually excited to continue writing.

10:15pm

The starfait ran out. Time for round two.

10:30pm

Round two isn’t sitting so well. Maybe you shouldn’t have drunk it so fast…

11:00pm

It is 11pm and you find yourself face down on the desk. Sometime after the second drink, you think you passed out from overdose. Or maybe fatigue. Who knows. All you knew was that your head was throbbing, and your essay was barely coming together. You scrolled through the pages you had typed up so far.

21\. There are 21 out of 30 pages.

Ah, well it can’t be that bad… You picked a random page to read halfway through and went from there.

This essay sounds like complete shit. Who wrote this??

…

Right.

You groaned and heard a light knock at the door. Instead of getting up, you let your head rest on the desk again and told whoever knocked they could come in. Sans peeked his head around the corner and noticed your damper mood immediately.

“hey kid, i’ve pen thinking. it’s been a while since we checked up on you, just gotta make era-sure that you’re doing alright.” He rattled off the puns with his usual grin. You smiled slightly to yourself.

“I’m not too sharp about it, but I think I’m to the point where I want to stop.” You sighed and felt Sans place a hand on your back. He rubbed it back and forth and you buried your face further into your arms. “I just… I need a break right about now.”

“wanna go for a walk?” He suggested. You shrugged.

“I don’t really feel like moving, but the fresh air will probably help.” He patted your shoulder as you slowly stood up.

“i've got just the place.” He winked and handed you the black hoodie from your closet. You smiled and thanked him, before hurriedly putting it on. As soon as you finished, Sans held out his hand for you to take. You had a feeling you knew where this was going... Once your fingers intertwined with Sans’, you felt the churning sensation of teleportation whisk you away.

_____________________________________________________________

This time, the teleportation wasn’t so bad. You felt a little dizzy, sure, but at least you didn’t throw up. You took a deep breath and examined your surroundings.

The brisk night air, as well as the wide expanse of trees surrounding you, told you this was the forest right outside the exit of the Underground. You hadn’t been back here since Sans took you some few weeks ago, but nothing seemed to have changed.

You flopped down on the ground, physically and mentally drained. How in the world were you supposed to finish nine more pages of an essay?

Sans sat down next to you, and meant to reach out to place a hand on your shoulder. Instead, out of exhaustion, you leaned your forehead against his shoulder. Thankfully he was wearing his fluffy blue jacket, otherwise that probably would have hurt. When you didn’t move after a few seconds, he wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug.

“is there something on your mind?” His thumbs drew small circles in your back.

“I know this is my fault in the first place, but it’s frustrating. All this work is piled up in one night and it’s killing me. I was dead tired when I got home from school, now I’m not even sure what’s going on.” He hummed affirmatively.

“anything else?” He coaxed, trailing a hand through your hair. You bit your lip.

“In all honesty?” You paused. “It doesn’t help I’m still anxious about being attacked. I mean.. I know Flowey hasn’t shown up in like, a week now, but he could still come back at any time. And I’m still worried something is going to happen, either to me, or you guys, or my friends at school, or…” As you trailed off, you noticed tears were streaming down your face. You don’t remember when you started crying, but Sans picked up on it and held you tighter. His physical comfort made you cry harder. “I know I said I was okay, but I’m not. I’m scared...” After allowing you to get most of that out, he held you by the shoulders and pulled you away to face him. You couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“_______.” His voice was quiet, soothing. You couldn’t meet his gaze. His hands found the sides of your face, thumbs brushing against your cheekbones to wipe the remaining tears away. He brought your head to be level with his.

“______, please look at me.” Your eyes traveled slowly to his eye sockets, where the orbs of light inside danced around. He was studying your expression. You dropped your head down suddenly, hair falling out of place and obscuring his view of you. He sighed and brushed it away, pulling you back to face him directly.

“I don’t want you to see me like this.” You mumbled. He shrugged.

“it’s okay. you can’t be strong all the time.” After a few more seconds, Sans let go of your face, allowing you to once again rest on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

“don’t be.” A moment of silence passed. “______ you’re very important to me, you know that? i would do anything for you. but i can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, okay?” You nodded into his jacket. “besides, i'm glad to see you no matter what.” You wrapped your arms around him and clung on tighter. The tears had stopped, but you were glad to have him there to support you.

“and don’t think for a second, that i would let some weed hurt the person i care about most.” He squeezed you back and nuzzled his skull into the side of your head. “i love you ______.”

“I love you too Sans.”

__________________________________________________

The two of you stayed like that for a little while longer, until you decided your break had been long enough. You thanked Sans for being there, and helping you calm down. Although things still felt a little off, for the most part you felt much better than you had before. After checking to make sure you were being truthful and not telling a fibula about being okay, (his words, not yours), the two of you were transported back home in the blink of an eye. Once back in your room, Sans grabbed a starfait for himself and wished you good luck in finishing the essay. You thanked him again and waved him off before cracking down on the last nine pages.

Thankfully after clearing your head it was much easier to write what you wanted. It had been a while since you could write like this, and you mentally thanked Sans again as you turned out the pages in no time. Well, almost no time. It had been midnight when you returned, and by the time you finished it was almost 2:30, but hey, at least it was done.

You sighed, glad to have finished everything up for the night. Once the document finished uploading, you plugged in your laptop and shut it down for the night. Now to get some sleep before school started up again in less than six hours…

Yay…


End file.
